PRIME MINISTER

East Midlands Airport

David Taylor: To ask the Prime Minister, when he next plans to use East Midlands Airport on official business.

Tony Blair: I have no current plans to do so.

TREASURY

Bribery

Simon Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many reports of evidence of overseas bribery or suspected bribery by a UK company have been passed to the Inland Revenue's Special Compliance Officer by Inland Revenue staff since November 1997; and how many of these reports were passed on by Inland Revenue to the (a) prosecution and (b) law enforcement agencies.

Dawn Primarolo: Section 19 of the Anti-Terrorism (Crime and Security) Act 2001 provides a gateway for the Revenue to pass information about a possible criminal offence of bribery to other agencies where the evidence warrants such a disclosure. No such gateway existed before.
	The Inland Revenue does not keep central records of cases referred to other agencies, but does not believe that the section 19 gateway has been used to date to refer a case of suspected bribery.

Currency Speculation

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications of taxing currency speculation.

John Healey: The Government remain to be convinced that a tax on currency speculation would be particularly effective in stabilising international capital flows. Indeed, a report by the European Commission—"Responses to the Challenges of Globalisation", February 2002—concludes that a currency transaction tax may actually increase volatility, since trading volumes would be likely to fall significantly following its introduction.
	There are also a number of practical issues concerning the coverage and enforcement of a currency speculation tax that would need to be resolved before, as is often suggested, it could become a feasible source of development finance. In particular, the Government are concerned that it would be almost impossible to achieve global coverage for such a tax, creating huge scope for evasion. Even if we could secure agreement among the G7, without global application speculative foreign exchange transactions would gravitate to those jurisdictions which did not enforce the tax. This would make poorly regulated offshore financial centres more attractive to speculators, increasing the threat of instability in the financial system.
	The Government are open to exploring the full range of options for raising finance for development and the Chancellor has proposed the International Finance Facility, a new mechanism which would raise significant additional resources. The Facility would be built on developed countries' long-term commitments to increased aid flows and, on this basis, would leverage additional resources from international capital markets. The Facility would seek to double aid from US$ 50 billion a year today to $100 billion a year in the years up to 2015—the sum needed to meet the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals.

Ivory

Tony Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list (a) ivory and (b) ivory products seized by HM Customs and Excise in each of the last five years.

John Healey: Customs has made the following seizures of ivory and ivory products in each of the last five years.
	
		
			  Ivory tusks Other items containingivory 
			 Calendaryear Number of seizures Number of items seized Number of Seizures Number of items seized Total number of seizures 
		
		
			 2003 7 22 23 3324 30 
			 2002 4 5 18 74 22 
			 2001 6 8 27 649 33 
			 2000 6 19 19 84 25 
			 1999 7 12 11 13 18 
			 Total 30 66 98 4,144 128

Tax Credit

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff will be employed in each of the two new tax credit contact centres; where they will be located; and when they will become operational.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 13 January 2004
	The two new Tax Credit Contact Centres—in Newcastle upon Tyne and Bathgate (West Lothian)—will each employ the equivalent of 500 new full time staff dedicated to answering tax credits calls. The Bathgate Contact Centre will, in addition, house the equivalent of a further 300 existing full time staff. The tax credits staff will be taking calls in time to support the continued delivery of tax credits from April 2004.

Tax Credit

Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the habitual residence test in regard to child and working tax credits will apply to nationals of the EU accession states if they come to live in the United Kingdom.

Dawn Primarolo: No, the habitual residence test does not apply to tax credits just as it has never applied to Child Benefit. However, to qualify for tax credits, a person must be both present and ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom.

Tax Deductibility

Simon Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times staff at the Inland Revenue have denied tax deductibility on payments, under section 577A of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988, on the basis that the payment was (a) a suspected bribe and (b) business entertainment on an overseas contract, since November 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: Section 577A of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 denies, for the purpose of computing business profits, a deduction on expenditure incurred on any payment, the making of which constitutes an offence in the UK, or would do so if the payment were made in the UK. The onus is upon the taxpayer not to claim a deduction on any such expenditure. The Inland Revenue does not keep central records of expenditure disallowed from deduction by its inspectors under this provision.

TRANSPORT

Advanced Driving Instructor Exams

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the introduction of the new Advanced Driving Instructor part 1 examination; and what skills the examination will assess which are not covered by existing tests.

David Jamieson: The driving instructor registration scheme involves periodic re-assessment of competence. We intend to use modern technology to assess instructor standards in an effective and efficient manner, as part of their supervision arrangements.
	The new computer-based assessment will comprise a multiple-choice question test of knowledge and understanding of driving theory and instruction, plus a moving-image hazard perception test. The knowledge and understanding test draws on a bank of over 900 questions and is more comprehensive than when most instructors qualified.
	Hazard perception testing has been a key part of the qualification process for learner car drivers, lorry drivers, bus drivers, motor cyclists, potential instructors and driving examiners since November 2002. Extending it to driving instructors who have not been assessed in this key skill will help their standards maintenance and professionalism and result in a driving instructor profession better placed to deliver high-quality instruction.
	We want to ensure that when the public, often young people, buy driving lessons they can have confidence that the instructor they choose will have kept up to date with developments in the learning-to-drive syllabus and be familiar with how the hazard perception test works.

Central Railway

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the findings of the Strategic Rail Authority's latest study on the Central Railway proposal; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 27 January 2004
	We have no plans to do so at present given the commercial sensitivity.

Civil Service (Disabled People)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out the number of employees in his Department who have a disability, broken down by disability type.

Tony McNulty: Employees in the Department for Transport, who have informed the Department that they have a disability, are recorded in the following table. The figures given are at April 2003.
	
		
			 Type of disability Count  
		
		
			 Hearing 13 
			 Learning difficulties (1)— 
			 Mental illness (1)— 
			 Mobility impairment 12 
			 Physical co-ordination difficulties 18 
			 Visual 10 
			 Unspecified(2) 8 
			 Total 62 
		
	
	(1) Indicates that the number is less than 5.
	(2) Where a person has informed the Department that they are disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act definition but chosen not to inform the Department about the nature of their impairment/s.
	While employees are encouraged to inform the Department that they have a disability, especially where an adjustment may better enable them to work to the best of their ability, they are not required to do so. It is likely that the numbers of disabled employees is actually higher. The Department is actively involved in the Cabinet Office run Disability Working Group. The group seeks to improve information on disabled civil servants both by, examining why employees are reluctant to pass on information on their impairments and, the approaches used to collect information.

Coastguard Service Vehicles

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles used by the coastguard service were built in (a) the UK, (b) the EU and (c) outside the EU, broken down by make of car.

David Jamieson: The number of vehicles used by the HM Coastguard service is listed in the following table:
	
		
			 Place Total Broken down by make of car  
		
		
			 UK 59 Land Rover (29)Vauxhall Astra Estate (20)Ford Escort Estate (7)Leyland Daf (3) 
			 EU 161 Ford Focus Estates (90)Nissan Terrano (67)Nissan Patrol (3)Renault Espace (1) 
			 Outside the EU 174 Toyota Hilux(115)Nissan Nivara (30)Vauxhall Brava (15)Nissan Pick-up (6)Toyota Colorado (4)Mitsubishi (3)Nissan Xtrail (1)

Drivers (Bioptics)

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether European nationals who are licensed to drive in other EU member states using bioptics are allowed to drive using bioptics in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: One of the principal themes of the second EC Directive on driving licences (Directive 91/439/EEC) is the mutual recognition of licences, and all entitlements gained, between member states. Drivers from other member states who become resident in the UK, however, are subject to UK legislation and procedures. Information provided to such drivers informs them of the requirement to notify the Secretary of State of any medical conditions, including visual defects, that may affect fitness to drive. A driver who notified a visual defect or condition and was found to be unable to meet the required standards in relation to vision would not be licensed to drive in the UK despite the use of bioptic lenses.

Drivers (Bioptics)

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of whether the European Directive on Driver Licensing allows the use of bioptics for driving; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what policy has been formulated by the Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on Driving and Visual Disorders regarding the use of bioptics for driving; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Any assessment as to the degree to which the use of bioptic lenses for driving complies with the second EC Directive on driving licences (Directive 91/439/EEC) requires the advice of my Department's Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on Vision and Driving.
	The Medical Advisory Panel advises on, rather than formulates, policy in relation to vision and driving. It has considered the issue of bioptic lenses and driving but feels that it is important to gain an understanding of other European member states' views and experience of this aid to vision before definitive advice can be given. I expect to receive the panel's advice, therefore, when the expert medical working group recently established by the EC Committee on the Driving Licence has considered the issue and the results of its discussions are known. The working group is expected to meet three or four times during 2004 and to report its results in approximately 18 months.

Driving Instructors

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many attempts approved driving instructors will be permitted to pass the test; whether ADIs will be removed from the register if they fail the test; when the Government intend to bring in these changes; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: holding answer 26 January 2004
	Driving instructors will not be limited in the number of attempts they are allowed to pass the computer-based assessment we are adding to their supervision arrangements. Only if an instructor was unable to pass the assessment at the end of a two-year period would action be taken to remove the person from the register.
	We intend to introduce the assessment this autumn. It will comprise a multiple-choice question test of knowledge and understanding of driving theory and instruction, plus a moving-image hazard perception test. The knowledge test draws on a bank of over 900 questions and is more comprehensive than when most instructors qualified.
	Hazard perception testing has been a key part of the qualification process for learner car drivers, lorry drivers, bus drivers, motor cyclists, potential instructors and driving examiners since November 2002. Extending it to driving instructors who have not been assessed in this key skill will help their standards maintenance and professionalism and result in a driving instructor profession better placed to deliver high-quality instruction.
	We want to ensure that when the public, often young people, buy driving lessons they can have confidence that the instructor they choose will have kept up to date with developments in the learning-to-drive syllabus and be familiar with how the hazard perception test works.

East Midlands Airport

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he was notified that East Midlands airport was planning to change its name.

Tony McNulty: The Department have received no formal notification from Manchester Airports Group, the owner of East Midlands airport, about the change of name. There is no requirement to notify the Department as it is a commercial decision for the airport operator.

Edinburgh Airport (Noise Pollution)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of households which will be subjected to (a) a noise level of (i) 63dBa Leq or more and (ii) 69dBa Leq or more and (b) an increase in noise level of 3dBa Leq or more directly as a result of the increased use of the existing runway at Edinburgh airport as outlined in the recent White Paper on Aviation.

Tony McNulty: This information is set out in the Scottish Consultation Document and supporting technical reports. These estimate the number of people who would be affected by different levels of noise under a range of runway options at Edinburgh airport including maximum use of the existing main runway, greater use of the existing crosswind runway and development of a new close parallel runway. Our analysis suggests that by 2030, under the maximum use option, and assuming a 8dBA technology improvement, there would be an increase of 300 people affected within the 63 dBA 16 hour Leq contour with no increase at the 69dBA 16 hour Leq contour. The equivalent figures with increased use of the crosswind runway are 800 and 200 respectively.
	The numbers of houses within these contours in the maximum use case is estimated to be 400 at 63 dBA and 100 at 69 dBA. Under the crosswind option the equivalent figures are 600 and 100 respectively.

Information Technology

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what audit mechanisms are in place to determine whether all Information Technology hardware and software products are being properly utilised in his Department.

Tony McNulty: The Department maintains a list of approved hardware and software products and specific approval is required for any purchase not on that list. Microsoft desktop and server software is procured through Office of Government Commerce licensing arrangements. These licences are managed using software tools at the Microsoft licensing site. Other key software is licensed under a corporate agreement with Novell and is audited annually by them. The Department also utilises asset tracking and discovery software to monitor what other hardware and software is being used on the Department's network.

Liquid Petroleum Gas

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many tonnes of (a) 1,3-butadiene, (b) benzene, (c) particulates and (d) sulphur dioxide emissions he estimates have been saved as a result of the liquid petroleum gas duty rebate.

David Jamieson: It is not possible to give a precise estimate. Liquefied petroleum gas is a clean fuel which results in very low emissions of a number of key air pollutants. It can have particular benefits, for example, when it is used as a substitute for diesel fuel in polluted urban areas. The nature and scale of the emissions savings, however, will depend on a number of factors, including the type of vehicle and fuel which is being replaced by LPG, and how and where it is being driven.

Mobile CCTV

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether funds retained by police authorities from fines imposed for exceeding speed limits may be used to set up mobile CCTV systems.

David Jamieson: They cannot be used for this purpose. All fines resulting from speeding offences are paid to the courts. Funds returned to the safety camera partnerships (all these include the police) under the cost recovery scheme may only be used to cover the cost of purchasing, placing and operating speed and traffic light enforcement (safety) cameras.

Motor Vehicle Recovery

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles were recovered from motorways in the last year for which figures are available by (a) a private breakdown recovery service and (b) a contractor engaged by the police.

David Jamieson: holding answer 27 January 2004
	This information is not available.

Road Accidents

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accident (a) injuries and (b) fatalities there were in each of the past 10 years, broken down by (i) children and (ii) adults.

David Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following table. These statistics have been published in the annual publications "Road Accidents Great Britain" (1993 to 2001) and "Road Casualties Great Britain" (2002), copies of which are in the Library.
	
		Casualties from road accidents by severity and age: 1993–2002 -- Casualties
		
			  Fatal Injuries 
			  Child Adult Age missing Child Adult Age missing 
		
		
			 1993 306 3,493 15 42,287 254,394 5,640 
			 1994 299 3,320 31 44,853 260,512 6,344 
			 1995 270 3,330 21 43,519 257,343 6,204 
			 1996 270 3,304 24 44,567 266,682 5,731 
			 1997 255 3,344 0 44,291 274,312 5,601 
			 1998 206 3,213 2 43,239 272,708 5,844 
			 1999 221 3,183 19 41,830 267,861 7,196 
			 2000 191 3,211 7 39,524 269,511 7,839 
			 2001 219 3,199 32 38,050 263,729 8,080 
			 2002 179 3,221 31 34,510 257,015 7,649

Road Noise

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on Government strategy for decreasing the noise disturbances arising from main roads in residential areas, with particular reference to relevant measures in the Traffic Management Bill.

David Jamieson: The Government recognise that traffic noise from main roads can be a significant nuisance, particularly where they run close to or through local communities. The Government are committed to reducing such noise and our strategy is to set vehicle construction standards that reduce noise at source wherever feasible and desirable on safety grounds. We also encourage the mitigation of noise with insulation, barriers, traffic management measures and low noise surfaces. The implementation of mitigation measures on the trunk road and motorway network, for which the Highways Agency is responsible, concentrates first on the most pressing locations. It is doing this by a variety of means, most importantly through a programme of re- surfacing all concrete roads with quieter materials by 31 March 2011 and re-surfacing blacktop roads with quieter materials as and when they require maintenance. In addition, the Government provides funds to local authorities to maintain local roads, though how much they spend and what they spend it on is their choice.
	The primary aim of the Traffic Management Bill is to improve the smooth flow of traffic but there are a number of reasons for believing that it will also help with noise problems. For example, better management of traffic incidents and street works will reduce the disruption caused to traffic and the noise created by slow-moving heavy traffic. It will also minimise the incentive for motorists to divert along adjacent residential roads.
	The Government are also encouraging a substantial growth in investment in public transport. This will help reduce traffic noise by providing the public with a greater choice over how they travel.

Royal Train

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times the royal train has been used in each of the last three years, broken down by journey.

Tony McNulty: The royal train plays an important role in enabling members of the royal family to carry out their extensive official engagements throughout the UK. It is principally used for overnight travel and provides secure accommodation and secure mobile office facilities. In 2002–03, the train was used for 19 journeys; in 2001–02, for 15 journeys and 17 journeys in 2000–01. Full details of these journeys are provided in the appendices to the Annual Reports on the Grant-in-aid for Royal Travel by Air and Rail. Copies of these reports, which are prepared annually, are placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Speed Cameras

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when determining where to site a speed camera, how far from the proposed site of a camera an accident can have occurred for it to justify that siting.

David Jamieson: The distance from the proposed site within which accidents are counted takes account of the circumstances of each site, and may be between 400 and 1,500 metres, for fixed speed cameras.

Traffic Management Bill

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the roles and duties that the Traffic Management Bill will accord to traffic managers and local traffic authorities to (a) respond to and (b) prevent traffic gridlock.

David Jamieson: The Traffic Management Bill will require local authorities to appoint a Traffic Manager responsible for keeping traffic moving in their area. Neighbouring authorities will also have to work together to ensure traffic flows across the network as a whole.
	Local authorities will need not only to manage existing problems but also to plan ahead, taking account of events they know about and making contingency arrangements for unforeseen incidents. They will have to do this in a way that does not compromise their other responsibilities such as for improving road safety.
	The Bill will give authorities a number of additional powers to meet their new responsibilities. For example, they will be helped to deal with congestion caused by poorly planned and lengthy street works by greater control over when and where utility companies carry out street works. These powers will include the ability to specify what day of the week works can be carried out and at what times. They will be able to prevent certain roads from being dug up repeatedly by banning works on that road until a specified date. Any utility company wanting to carry out street works could be required to apply for a permit to do so. Utility companies failing to repair a road properly will face fines of up to £5,000.
	Local authorities will also be given the ability to ensure that a number of moving traffic contraventions are enforced. This will include, for example, box junction and no right turn rules. These powers already exist in London. The Bill will extend them to cover the rest of England and Wales.

Traffic Management Bill

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what impact the Traffic Management Bill will have on motorcyclists; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The Traffic Management Bill will give national and local highway authorities a number of additional powers and responsibilities to tackle congestion for the benefit of all road users. Authorities will be better able to manage their roads and the traffic using them. Motorcyclists, like other road users, will benefit from the reduced congestion and disruption. In particular, on local roads where much motorcycling takes place, local authorities will have a new network management duty aimed at keeping traffic moving in their area. Neighbouring authorities will also have to work together to ensure traffic flows effectively across the network as a whole. Again, motorcyclists will benefit from the better operation of the road network, along with other road users.

Traffic Management Bill

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is meant by serious traffic disruption in Part 4 of the Traffic Management Bill.

David Jamieson: Section 56 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 allows a street authority to direct an undertaker as to the times at which street works can be carried out, where they might otherwise cause serious disruption to traffic. Clause 42 of the Traffic Management Bill makes clear that this power includes the ability to direct not only the times but also the days on which works may or may not be carried out.
	Whether or not there is likely to be serious disruption to traffic in the case of a particular proposed works must be determined by a street authority on the facts of the case. Guidance on the use of the current power is set out in the Code of Practice for the Co-ordination of Street Works and Works for Road Purposes and Related Matters, and we intend revising this guidance as part of producing regulations under the Bill. Ultimately, however, the interpretation of the law is a matter for the courts.

Traffic Management Bill

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the streetwork provisions in the Traffic Management Bill on urban regeneration.

David Jamieson: The aim of the street works provisions in the Traffic Management Bill are twofold. Firstly to reduce the disruption that these works cause to road users, businesses and local residents and secondly to ensure that works are carried out to a high standard and to minimise the negative impact they can have on the environment and the appearance of streets. While each of these is an issue for both urban and rural areas, we believe that minimising the negative effect of these works is particularly important in helping to regenerate our cities.

Traffic Management Bill

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the Traffic Management Bill on utilities infrastructure investment programmes, with particular reference to (a) water and gas mains replacement and (b) electricity cable renewal and upgrading.

David Jamieson: The detail of those parts of the Traffic Management Bill which relate directly to utility works will be set out in regulations. We will be consulting extensively with utilities and utility regulators as part of drawing up these regulations, so that the revised legislative regime takes proper account of their investment programmes and does not put any unnecessary obstacles in the way of their carrying out these necessary works.

Traffic Management Bill

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans the Government have to consult Ofgem on the additional costs envisaged from the introduction of permit schemes, as set out in the Traffic Management Bill.

David Jamieson: Ofgem, together with Ofwat and Ofcom, are represented on the legislative working group set up by my Department which considered what provision should be included in the Bill, and which will continue to meet to consider the details of the secondary legislation which will underpin it. This will include looking at proposals for permit schemes and consideration of the possible costs involved. We shall continue to involve Ofgem and the other regulators closely as the proposals for regulations are developed.

Transport (Wales)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with representatives of the National Assembly for Wales regarding the expansion of the road network in Wales.

David Jamieson: None. The expansion of the motorway trunk road network in Wales is entirely a matter for the National Assembly for Wales who have devolved responsibility for these issues.

Vehicle Inspections

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles have been stopped for roadside checks by the Vehicles Inspectorate in London in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many (a) were found to have vehicle faults and (b) were motor cars and other non-commercial vehicles.

David Jamieson: holding answer 26 January 2004
	The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (formerly the Vehicle Inspectorate) conducts its enforcement activity within a network of 23 enforcement areas covering England, Scotland and Wales. Enforcement Area 15 (Metropolitan) covers the majority of London boroughs. The number of vehicles stopped at the roadside by the Vehicle Inspectorate in Enforcement Area 15 and the percentage found to have roadworthiness faults are shown in the following tables. Figures are only available for the last four years.
	
		Spot checks carried out by the Vehicle Inspectorate (VOSA) between 19992000 and 200203 in Enforcement Area 15 (Metropolitan Area)
		
			  Number of vehicles checked 
			 Vehicle category 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 HGV motor vehicles(3) 1,580 1,769 1,435 3,011 
			 HGV trailers 284 337 170 358 
			 HGV emissions 409 413 356 345 
			 PSV vehicles(3) 480 898 851 547 
			 PSV emissions 293 246 332 252 
		
	
	
		Percentage
		
			  Prohibition rate(4) 
			  Immediate prohibitions(5) Delayed prohibitions(6) 
			 Vehicle category 19992000 200001 200102 200203 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 HGV motor vehicles(3) 11.4 10.6 17.2 13.4 12.5 12.0 20.6 14.4 
			 HGV trailers 10.6 8.0 7.6 11.2 12.3 11.6 12.9 16.8 
			 HGV emissions 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.7 0.7 0.6 1.2 
			 PSV vehicles(3) 4.6 5.1 5.3 7.1 2.3 4.8 7.3 6.4 
			 PSV emissions 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.8 
		
	
	(3) Excludes emissions only checks, but includes foreign vehicles.
	(4) Only one prohibition notice is issued per vehicle although it may contain a list of defects/offences where more than one has been found. The most serious defect/offence determines whether an immediate or delayed prohibition is issued.
	(5) Immediate prohibition rate relates to all vehicles (including foreign vehicles).
	(6) Delayed prohibition rate excludes checks on foreign vehicles. The Foreign Vehicles Act does not provide for the issue of delayed prohibitions to foreign vehicles.
	
		Results of light vehicle roadside roadworthiness checks
		
			  Number examined 
			 Vehicle category 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Cars 249 134 128 113 
			 Taxis and private hire cars 49 32 109 109 
			 Non-testable vehicles 30 32 49 32 
			 Light good vehicles 422 559 1,004 827 
		
	
	
		Percentage
		
			  Prohibition rate 
			  Immediate prohibitions Delayed prohibitions 
			 Vehicle category 19992000 200001 200102 200203 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Cars 14.5 11.9 42.2 39.8 8.8 3.7 7.0 1.8 
			 Taxis and private hire cars 12.2 0.0 38.5 44.0 6.1 15.6 0.9 5.5 
			 Non-testable vehicles 23.3 21.9 30.6 34.4 6.7 15.6 22.4 15.6 
			 Light good vehicles 19.4 18.1 15.9 22.6 11.6 10.0 10.5 9.7 
		
	
	
		Light vehicle spot checks for emissions
		
			  Number examined 
			 Vehicle category 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Cars 2,147 1,525 1,972 2,291 
			 Taxis and private hire cars 63 17 26 37 
			 Light good vehicles 306 310 657 645 
		
	
	
		Percentage
		
			  Prohibition rate 
			  Petrol Diesel 
			 Vehicle category 19992000 200001 200102 200203 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Cars 5.8 8.9 10.8 9.9 0.5 1.8 0.8 0.6 
			 Taxis and private hire cars 7.9 0.0 3.8 0.0 0.0 5.9 7.7 8.1 
			 Light good vehicles 2.0 0.3 0.5 3.9 5.6 1.9 4.0 1.7

Vehicle Excise Duty

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people benefit from the Vehicle Excise Duty exemption for people with the mobility component for disability living allowance; and what is the average amount of money they will save in 200304.

David Jamieson: The latest available figures show that there are 1,548,512 people in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance. Of this figure, 790,000 claim the exemption from Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).
	The financial value of a VED exemption is dependent on the age, engine size and carbon dioxide emissions level of a vehicle. This can be within the range of 75 to 165 per annum.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress British forces have made in restricting the poppy harvest in Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: The United Kingdom has a comprehensive strategy to assist Afghanistan to end its opium trade. While our armed forces are not directly involved in the eradication of the opium poppy crop, their deployments with the International Security Assistance Force and the Provincial Reconstruction Team, and our support for local security forces, all help to contribute towards the counter-narcotics programmes of civilian law enforcement and development agencies. They also help the Afghans themselves to create the structures through which they can implement more effectively President Karzai's commitment to deal with both opium farming and trafficking in his country.

Bearskin

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2003, Official Report, column 463W, on bearskins, what species of bear's pelt is used to make the bearskin caps; whether this species is classified as endangered within the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species; what steps the Department takes to ensure the taking of bears is a sustainable practice; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 26 January 2004
	Bearskin caps are made from the fur of the American black bear. This is listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as a species not currently rare or endangered, but which could become so if trade is not regulated, and all exports of American black bear products from Canada must be accompanied by a CITES export license. CITES species in Canada are managed through the Canadian Wildlife Service and the American black bear is currently classified as not at risk by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

Bugaled Briezh

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military vessel manoevures took place in the vicinity of the Bugaled Briezh between 12.00 noon and 14.00 on 15 January.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 26 January 2004
	Only two naval vessels were in the immediate vicinity of the Bugaled BriezhHNLMS Dolfijn and HMS Tyne. HNLMS Dolfijn was surfaced and transitting to the start position of an Anti-Submarine Warfare Exercise. She was some 11 nautical miles away at 1252Z when a French fishing vessel reported the capsize of Bugaled Briezh. HMS Tyne was on Fishery Protection duties and was 22 nautical miles north-east of the trawler at this time. She then proceeded to the scene and was tasked by the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre to co-ordinate the search.

Equipment Programmes

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he is making of equipment programmes in relation to their key war fighting capabilities.

Adam Ingram: The Defence White Paper (Cm 6041) noted the need to ensure that defence resources are directed at those capabilities which are most appropriate for future operations. The Department's annual planning round involves a thorough examination of defence costs and capabilities, and includes an assessment of the contribution of equipment programmes in meeting the policy set out in the White Paper.

Foreign Defence Equipment

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many foreign ships have been hired by his Department in each of the last five years.

Adam Ingram: Freight-carrying ships chartered by the Ministry of Defence are categorized as either British or non-British registered. In the calendar year 2003, 58 non-British registered freight-carrying ships were chartered. I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Kirkcaldy (Dr. Moonie) on 15 January 2003, Official Report, column 626W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Dover (Mr. Prosser) for details of all vessels chartered in earlier years.
	Specialist ships chartered by the Ministry of Defence are categorized as either British or foreign-owned. The following foreign-owned specialist ships were chartered over the last five calendar years: 1999eight, 2000fourteen, 2001four, 2002twelve, 2003nine.

Give as You Earn Scheme

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of staff in his Department contribute to a charity through the Give as You Earn scheme; how much money is donated to charity per month by staff in his Department through the scheme; and what steps he is taking to encourage greater participation in the scheme by staff in his Department.

Ivor Caplin: The answer to the question is, 1,315 civilian staff (approximately 1.4per cent.) contribute a total of 14,400 each month. These figures include Ministry of Defence Trading Funds.
	Of course this represents only a single element of charitable donations in the Department. For example some 30,000 is paid each month direct from payroll to the Civil Service Benevolent Fund.
	In 2004 we intend to remind all staff, by individual leaflet, of the benefits of donating to charity through the Give as you Earn scheme.
	For the armed forces, the latest available figures are from December 2003. In this month 906 Naval Service personnel (2.2per cent.) contributed around 2,100 to the Charity Payroll Giving Scheme, with a further 1,273 personnel (3 per cent.) contributing around 8,800 through Voluntary Deductions from Pay. The Army figures for December show 21,069 personnel (12.26 per cent.) contributed 99,552 and the RAF 15,274 from 2,561 personnel (4.8 per cent.) through their respective Give as you Earn Schemes.
	This represents only a single element of charitable donations in the Department. For example the equivalent of 120,000 per month (paid quarterly) is paid to the RAF Benevolent Fund directly from RAF pay.
	In previous years the Department have published Defence Council Instructions (DCIs) and produced articles in the three main Service publications (Navy News, Soldier Magazine and RAF News) on the benefits of donating to charity through the Give as you Earn schemes. We intend to continue this effort into 2004.

Herbicides

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the UK has bulk-stored herbicides with a view to possible military application; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence does not bulk-store herbicides.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what complaints have been received about the adequacy of investigations into Iraqi deaths resulting from UK military action; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: We have received a number of letters from members of the public and enquiries from the media some of which have expressed concern about investigations into Iraqi deaths allegedly caused by United Kingdom forces.
	The most common concerns expressed have been about the speed with which investigations are carried out, their independence and whether their results would be made public. In responding we make clear that investigations are thorough, which can take time; that both the Royal Military Police and, if called on, the single-service Prosecuting Authorities are fully independent of the chain of command; and that while the findings of investigations are subject to legal, operational and other security constraints, there may be some circumstances in which we are able to release certain details to entitled persons.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the use of hoods on Iraqi citizens in the course of their arrest or detention in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: Current practice in Iraq is that hoods are not used on Iraqi citizens during or after their arrest.

Iraq

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has received on the smelting plant near Basra which is melting down tanks and armoured vehicles contaminated by depleted uranium; and what efforts are being made to identify and close down such facilities in the area controlled by British forces.

Adam Ingram: There is no known legitimate operational smelting plant in the Basra region. A small number of illegal mobile smelting plants used for smuggled copper and aluminium have been found and closed down. There is no evidence they had been used to smelt tanks.
	Military vehicles known to have been hit by DU munitions within the southern sector of Iraq controlled by the British military have been clearly marked. Arrangements are currently being negotiated with the US for a contractor to collect and store these military vehicles.

Iraq

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the report on the accident involving two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters in Iraq in March 2003 will be published.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 26 January 2004
	As is usual practice, on completion of the accident investigation, a copy of the findings of the Military Aircraft Accident Summary into the Royal Navy Sea King accident of March 2003 will be placed in the Library of the House. That investigation is not yet complete.

Iraq

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been made of weapons used for the first time in battlefield conditions in the war on Iraq.

Adam Ingram: Two weapons were used for the first time in Iraq, Storm Shadow and Maverick missiles.
	Operational feedback is that both missiles were accurate and effective against a range of targets.

Overseas Deployments

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 1124W, on overseas deployments, if he will list the countries where personnel are deployed other than those where they are stationed; and how many are deployed in each case.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 26 January 2004
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 January 2004, Official Report, column 67W to my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew).

Rape/Violence Against Women

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what measures have been put in place to ensure that complaints of violence against women by UK military personnel employed overseas are properly investigated;
	(2)  if he will list the complaints received of violence against women, made against UK military personnel stationed abroad in the last 10 years.

Adam Ingram: The armed forces do not tolerate any form of criminal behaviour and have well-established and effective procedures for dealing with allegations. Whether arising in the UK or overseas, complaints are thoroughly investigated and the relevant prosecution authorities consulted. Disciplinary action is taken as appropriate.
	For troops serving overseas, the investigating authority is determined by the status and nationality of the complainant, the provisions of any Status of Forces Agreement or Memorandum of Understanding existing between the UK and the host nation.
	Complete records of complaints of violence against women by service personnel are not held centrally, and the information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Road Construction (Parker Plan)

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions (a) his Department and (b) agencies and companies operating on his behalf have had with Parker Plan road compaigners in respect of road construction in or near the south-east corner of Boscombe Down Airfield.

Ivor Caplin: None.

Royal Naval Reserve

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Royal Naval Reserve have (a) been called up and (b) served in Operation Telic; and how many have served for more than one tour.

Ivor Caplin: Up to 23 January 2004, 446 members of the Royal Naval Reserve had been called out for Operation TELIC, of whom 371 were accepted into service. Seven, all volunteers, have either completed more than one tour of duty or are currently doing so.

Royal Navy Projects

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress on the Royal Navy's (a) Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft and (b) Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon projects.

Adam Ingram: The Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft (SCMR) programme is currently nearing the end of its Assessment Phase. A Main Gate investment decision is expected later this year when, as with any other programme, the decision on Demonstration and Manufacture will be made, with the capability planned to be phased into service around the turn of the decade.
	The Future Air to Surface Guided Weapon (FASGW) programme remains early in its concept phase. This includes studies into a range of solutions to provide a future Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) capability, superseding the Sea Skua missile currently carried by the Royal Navy Lynx helicopters. A final investment decision will be made at the programme Main Gate, currently planned for the second half of this decade, with the capability entering service during the first half of the next decade.

Security Passes

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in (i) his Department and (ii) departmental agencies in the last 12 months.

Ivor Caplin: Between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2003, personnel employed at MOD establishments reported 2,012 passes lost and 90 stolen. During the same period, personnel employed at establishments of MOD agencies reported 882 passes lost and 23 stolen. The passes carry a photograph of the holder and have other features that inhibit their fraudulent replication. Therefore, the loss of such passes, in isolation, is not assessed to pose an increased threat, although this is kept under constant review.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

National Power Supply

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she is taking to ensure that the UK national power supply is protected from sabotage.

Stephen Timms: The Government provides protective security advice to key sectors and installations that are critical to the country's economic and social well-being. Our experience of domestic terrorist attacks over the past 30 years has shown that these arrangements have made an effective contribution to the counter-terrorism effort.
	We provide tailored advice to a variety of industries, as well as to individual companies and public sector organisations, about how to make contingency arrangements and provide protective security. This advice comes from the Security Service and other sources.
	This is an ongoing process and, for understandable reasons, it would be inappropriate to give details of what advice is provided to which organisations.

Bio-diesel

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information she has collated on the number of forecourts in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland which sell bio-diesel.

Stephen Timms: The Department of Trade and Industry does not record the number of forecourts which sell bio-diesel. However, from discussions with biofuels suppliers we estimate the following:
	(a) Scotland13
	(b) England116
	(c) Wales0
	(d) Northern Ireland7
	It is worth noting that additionally a significant proportion of biodiesel is supplied in bulk directly to the commercial market.

Broadband

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 15 January 2004, Official Report, column 845W, on broadband, when she will publish a report on the work and findings of the joint departmental Rural Broadband Team.

Stephen Timms: The role of the joint DTI/Defra Rural Broadband Unit is to facilitate understanding and promote partnerships between the telecommunications industry, Government agencies and community organisations to spread information and best practice. For instance, the Unit will shortly be publishing a 'Rural Broadband Toolkit' to help rural communities and businesses understand the issues surrounding access to broadband.
	The Unit works as part of the wider DTI Broadband Unit and will not be producing a report specifically on its own work.

Civil Servants

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much space, expressed in square metres, the Department occupies for the offices of civil servants in (a) central London and (b) Greater London.

Patricia Hewitt: The Department currently occupies 80,000 sq metres in central London and an additional 7,000 sq m in Greater London. This excludes agencies but includes space occupied by the Department in buildings where other Government Departments have the lead responsibility.

Competition Commission Report (Littlewoods)

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she proposes to publish her decisions arising from the Competition Commission report on the proposed GUS/Reality and Littlewoods Mail Order/Home Trading organisations.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 26 January 2004
	I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 22 January 2004, Official Report, column 1453.

Innovation Funding

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will break down how innovation funding in the areas of (a) industrial exploitation of science, (b) support for competitiveness, (c) space, (d) technical and design infrastructure, (e) support for construction industry, (f) expert advice and other expenditure and (g) invest to save projects, as set out in her departmental report 2003, was allocated in 200304; and what amounts were allocated in each year since 1997.

Patricia Hewitt: Successive departmental reports have provided breakdowns and explanations of my Department's innovation expenditure, including on Space and Civil Aerospace Research and Development ('CARAD'), before and since the change in the innovation budget structure in 200102.
	The following table is based on information published in the 1999 and subsequent departmental reports, where more details and explanation can be found. It includes expenditure on 'Support of the construction industry' under 'Industrial Exploitation of Science' and 'Support for Competitiveness' from 200203 (following a machinery of government transfer of responsibility in 2001) and on the Invest to Save Budget funded biotechnology portal, 'i-bio.gov.uk', under 'Support for Competitiveness'.
	
		
			  199798 outturn 199899 outturn 19992000 outturn 200001 working provision(7) 200102 outturn 200203 working provision(8) 200304 plans 
		
		
			 Knowledge transfer and collaboration 39.3 30.5 32.7 47.2
			 Innovation promotion and support 78.0 61.2 56.1 66.8
			 Standards and National Measurement System 56.6 60.0 60.4 61.7
			 Sector Challenge 4.6 11.5 10.4 4.3
			 CARAD 24.6 21.0 20.0 20.0
			 Space(9) 102.4 87.5 88.2 90.0 87.7 85.0 82.5 
			 Industrial exploitation of science 67.9 86.8 94.1 
			 Support for competitiveness 60.3 73.0 73.4 
			 Technical and design infrastructure 69.9 73.7 89.4 
			 Expert advice and other expenditure 7.7 3.8 2.7 
			 Total 305.5 271.7 267.8 290.0 293.5 322.3 342.1 
		
	
	(7) Budget structure changed from 200102.
	(8) 200203 outturn will be reported in the 2004 departmental report.
	(9) Excludes Office of Science and Technology expenditure on space (except for 200304 plans, which include BNSC budgets transferring to the Science budget from 200304).
	Source:
	19992003 departmental reports (Cm 4211, March 1999, Table 1.5; Cm 4611, April 2000, Figure 3.7; Cm 5112, March 2001, Figure 4.5; Cm 5416, June 2002, Figure 4.5; and Cm 5916, May 2003, Figure 5.2)

Miners' Compensation

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many miners' compensation claims for respiratory diseases (a) have been made, (b) have been settled and (c) are outstanding in (i) the Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside and (iii) the UK in each year since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: Claims are dealt with on a priority basis, those from the eldest and sickest living miners and their widows being deal with first. Claims that are outstanding may be a lower priority or they may have an outstanding policy issue that is preventing settlement of the claim.
	The figures are:
	
		
			 Year claimregistered Claim receipts Total settlements including denied/withdrawn (as of 16 January 2004) Number outstanding 
		
		
			 Jarrow
			 1997(10) 9 5 4 
			 1998(10) 93 55 38 
			 1999(10) 140 75 65 
			 2000 92 45 47 
			 2001 191 59 132 
			 2002(11) 128 19 109 
			 2003(11) 415 3 412 
			 2004 36  36 
			 Total 1,104 261 843 
			 South Tyneside
			 1997(10) 15 8 7 
			 1998(10) 298 162 136 
			 1999(10) 344 172 172 
			 2000 276 135 141 
			 2001 560 180 380 
			 2002(11) 371 53 318 
			 2003(11) 1,102 18 1,084 
			 2004 99  99 
			 Total 3,065 728 2,337 
			  United Kingdom  
			 1997(10) 3,219 2,258 961 
			 1998(10) 53,544 35,977 17,567 
			 1999(10) 28,711 17,288 11,423 
			 2000 36,665 18,617 18,048 
			 2001 44,178 18,279 25,899 
			 2002(11) 39,560 10,216 29,344 
			 2003(11) 168,574 3,000 165,574 
			 2004 17,097 29 17,068 
			 Total 391,548 105,664 285,884 
		
	
	(10) The Department was not able to process claims until after the signing of the Claims Handling Agreement, agreed with the claimants' solicitors, on 24 September 1999.
	(11) Estate claims put on hold as a lower priority, in agreement with claimants solicitors.
	Notes:
	1. South Tyneside consists of the Jarrow and South Shields constituencies.
	2. Constituency figures can be found on the DTI website www.dti. gov.uk/coalhealth The information is complied in the middle of the month and shows figures for the end of the previous month.

Lottery Revenue

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total value is of Lottery revenue used to support Government-sponsored projects within her Department since 1997.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 26 January 2004
	My Department has no policy or operational responsibility for distribution of National Lottery proceeds. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him today by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Ministerial Meetings

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) purpose and (b) outcome was of the meeting convened by her Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Edinburgh South, on 21 January with representatives of North-East Somerset, Mowlen plc. and Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners Ltd.

Nigel Griffiths: The PUSS met as Construction Minister to discuss construction matters. This was achieved.

National Power Provision

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many power cuts there were in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) individual power company.

Stephen Timms: (a) Information by constituency is not held centrally either by DTI or OFGEM it could only be obtained via a detailed information request to companies which would take considerable time and cost.
	(b) As part of the Regulatory reporting requirements, all Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) submit data to OFGEM (the Industry Regulator) pertaining to 'Customer Interruptions' (or CI) figures. These are effectively an indication of the number of customers who experience an interruption per 100 customers per year. This type of information is expressed in this way as the DNOs serve widely varying numbers of customers, and it enables a comparison to be made between the relative performances of the DNOs concerned.
	The table details the available Customer Interruptions data for each of the DNOs for the last five reporting years.
	
		Customer InterruptionsCIs
		
			 DNO 199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 
		
		
			 Aquila (ex-Midlands) 132.24 120.82 139.69 147.77 123.54 
			 EME (ex-East Midlands) 93.10 76.47 77.80 91.38 78.82 
			 EPN (ex-Eastern) 73.71 60.40 66.11 68.83 102.02 
			 Hydro (Scottish Hydro) 153.10 155.00 141.20 131.61 124.71 
			 LPN (ex-London) 39.18 36.89 36.19 39.75 38.62 
			 NEDL (ex-Northern) 90.07 92.59 89.91 98.09 93.65 
			 SP Distribution (ex-Scottish Power) 72.95 85.75 82.24 91.52 76.27 
			 SPN (ex-Seeboard) 91.00 95.50 89.90 88.50 93.29 
			 Southern 72.73 63.97 74.37 73.78 103.17 
			 SP Manweb 57.33 44.13 53.08 53.01 51.60 
			 UU (ex-Norweb) 83.80 57.60 54.10 54.10 56.46 
			 WPD S. Wales (ex-Swalec) 185.70 150.20 152.70 158.20 120.73 
			 WPD S. West (ex-Sweb) 105.50 80.10 90.40 86.50 107.06 
			 YEDL (ex-Yorkshire) 80.00 71.79 73.03 69.80 78.79

Regional Development Agencies

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses have been helped by each regional development agency; what the average sum of money received by these businesses is; how many of the businesses helped are still operating; and how many of these businesses have increased their profitability.

Jacqui Smith: England's Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) help businesses both directly and indirectly through a range of activities and programmes including skills development, upgrading infrastructure and improving business competitiveness of the region in general.
	Information on how many businesses have been helped, the average sum of money received, how many are still operating, and how many have increased their profitability, is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	The number of businesses added to the regional economy as a direct result of RDA activity is available for financial year 200203 and is broken down by Agency in the following table. The information is also available on the DTI website at http: //www. dti.gov.uk/rda/info/.

UK Investment

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action her Department has taken to stimulate UK investment in (a) Poland, (b) Lithuania and (c) Latvia.

Mike O'Brien: UK Trade and Investment does not stimulate outward investment to any market. The decision to invest is a commercial one and companies have to decide the best way of running their business. Where companies have made that decision they can ask UK Trade and Investment to provide advice and assistance to enable companies to invest successfully abroad, minimising the associated risks and maximising the benefit to companies and the UK economy.

UK Investment

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what action her Department has taken to stimulate UK investment in (a) the Czech Republic and (b) Bulgaria;
	(2)  what action her Department has taken to stimulate UK investment in (a) Hungary and (b) Estonia;
	(3)  what action her Department has taken to stimulate UK investment in (a) Malta, (b) Turkey and (c) Romania;
	(4)  what action her Department has taken to stimulate UK investment in (a) Slovakia, (b) Slovenia and (c) Cyprus.

Mike O'Brien: holding answers 26 January 2004
	UK Trade and Investment does not stimulate outward investment to any market. The decision to invest is a commercial one and companies have to decide the best way of running their business. Where companies have made that decision they can ask UK Trade and Investment to provide advice and assistance to enable companies to invest successfully abroad, minimising the associated risks and maximising the benefit to companies and the UK economy.

World Trade Organisation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which members of the World Trade Organisation have yet to (a) ratify and (b) implement the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Financial Services.

Mike O'Brien: The WTO agreement on financial services dates from 12 December 1997 and required ratification and acceptance by 29 January 1999. To date, Brazil, Jamaica and Philippines have not done so.

World Trade Organisation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many delegates from each member of the World Trade Organisation attended the ministerial conference in Cancun in September 2003.

Patricia Hewitt: According to WTO Secretariat figures over 3,200 accredited delegates attended the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun held in September 2003, from 144 member country delegations.
	The WTO Secretariat does not provide a breakdown of the number of delegates by member country. A list of all accredited delegates is available from the WTO website at: www.wto.org.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Aldicarb

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to discontinue the use of aldicarb on crops in the UK.

Alun Michael: Council Decision 2003/199/EC of 18 March 2003 requires member states to withdraw approvals for most uses of products containing aldicarb by 18 September 2004.
	However, the Decision allows for certain 'essential uses' of aldicarb to continue until 31 December 2007. These are limited uses for which no efficient alternative control methods currently exist. In the UK the essential uses are for the control of nematodes (parasitic worms) on potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions and ornamentals.

Aldicarb

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made by the Pesticide Safety Directorate of the effects on human health of pesticides containing aldicarb.

Alun Michael: The UK was the 'rapporteur member state' for aldicarb in the EC review of pesticides under Directive 91/414/EEC. The Pesticides Safety Directorate was thus responsible for examining extensive scientific data on aldicarb to draft an assessment report for review by all other member states and the EC Commission.
	The EC review of aldicarb concluded that under normal conditions of use there would be no unacceptable risks to workers or consumers. However, the substance is being phased out due to potential environmental impacts.

Aldicarb

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice the Pesticide Safety Directorate has published on the handling of pesticides containing aldicarb.

Alun Michael: Advice on safe handling of pesticides is provided as 'safety precautions' on the labels and accompanying literature for pesticides. The safety precautions for each pesticide product are checked and agreed by the Pesticide Safety Directorate as part of the approval process.
	Pesticides containing aldicarb carry over 20 safety precautions covering the following areas: operator protection (including details of specified protective clothing); consumer protection; environmental protection; and storage and disposal advice.

Animal Health Act

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's statutory responsibilities are under the Animal Health Act 1981 in respect of the elimination of contiguous reservoirs of disease which have zoonotic and animal health implications.

Ben Bradshaw: Under section 29 of the Animal Health Act 1981, the Secretary of State may, with a view to reducing the risk to human health of any disease of, or organism carried in, animals, make an Order designating any such disease or organism which, in her opinion, constitutes such a risk.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the project designed to assess the impact of removing badgers from the ecosystem will also take into account (a) the impact of allowing unrestrained growth of the badger population and (b) the impact of controlled reductions in badger populations to various levels.

Ben Bradshaw: Even where culling does not take place the local badger population is not undergoing 'unrestrained growth' as it will be subject to limits imposed by natural and human phenomena. The project designed to assess the impact of removing badgers from the ecosystem will assess the impact on other wildlife of controlled reductions in badger populations to various levels, in comparison with areas where badgers are not culled.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she reconciled the inability to estimate the effect of alternative capture methods of badgers which would remove 100 per cent. of the population with the findings during the Thornbury trial.

Ben Bradshaw: The Krebs Report referred to the difficulty of assessing the effect of different control strategies on the prevalence of TB in badgers and on herd breakdowns. The report says
	None of the control strategies have been assessed in a properly designed experiment to establish their efficacy. (Krebs Report pages 8283).
	A comparison of reactive culling areas of the Randomised Badger Culling trial (RBCT) and the Thornbury clearance area is not valid. Although indicative of the effect on cattle TB incidence that might be expected if a total badger clearance were achieved, the Thornbury badger removal was performed without contemporary control areas. This limits its usefulness as a basis for comparison with the impact of lesser percentage badger clearances achieved by other methods, since any change in the incidence of TB in cattle subsequent to culling could have resulted in whole or in part from some other cause.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2003, Official Report, column 211W, what conclusions she draws from the data on the location of TB lesions in badgers as to the main route of infection; and whether it is possible to draw similar conclusions in respect of the data available on the location of TB lesions in cattle.

Ben Bradshaw: Infection with Mycobacterium bovis most often causes lesions in the respiratory tract and the associated lymph nodes, which suggests that the most common route of infection in badgers and cattle is by inhalation, or ingestion followed by inhalation. In badgers infection by inoculation through bite wounds are also a relatively frequent route of infection.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the scientific rationale was for the choice of the different distance parameters adopted for the culling zones of badgers in (a) the Gassing Strategy and (b) the Clean Ring Strategy, of the Krebs trials.

Ben Bradshaw: For the gassing strategy: where TB infection was found in badgers, an area of up to one kilometre from the farm boundary was surveyed, to include the full territories of badgers on the infected farm. Social groupings were identified and all infected social groups, and groups in contact with them, were gassed. The area gassed was determined by the location of infected farms, infected badgers, sett groupings and natural boundaries. (Krebs Report 1997, page 142)
	For the Clean Ring strategy: infected social groups, and those contiguous with them were culled. Culling, of social groups that were contiguous to groups found to be infected, continued until a clean ring of social groups containing no infected animals was found and removed, or else there were no badgers found. (Krebs Report page 143)
	The use of broadly circular treatment areas of 100 km 2 for the Randomised Badger Culling Trial is explained on pages 89 of the first report of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB and is based on the suggested use of 10km by 10km squares in the Krebs Report, pages 9093.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what distances can be travelled by adult badgers from their setts to their food sources; and what the radii were of the Krebs (a) reactive and (b) proactive areas.

Ben Bradshaw: Adult badgers can travel between a few metres and a few kilometres from their setts to their food sources dependent on the quality of the habitat. None of the Krebs reactive and proactive areas are completely circular, so no exact radii can be evaluated. Trial areas are initially described using a 5.64 km radius circle but this shape is distorted by natural features and survey data to end up with areas of around 100 sq km. However, details of the total surface areas of the Krebs reactive and proactive areas are available on the Defra Internet site.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 8 December 2003, Official Report, column 211W, on badgers, what proportion of badgers culled as part of TB control strategies conducted during 197997 tested positive for M. bovis; and what the percentage was in (a) 197582, (b) 198288 and (c) 198897.

Ben Bradshaw: The following table gives these data:
	
		
			 Period 197997 197582 198288 198897 
		
		
			 Badgers culled 20,252 2,661 6,367 13,401 
			 Badgers positive for M. bovis 3,985 283 966 3,118 
			 Percentage 20.1 10.7 15.2 24.0

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 8 December 2003, Official Report, column 212W, what inferences can be drawn from the preponderance of TB lesions found in badgers on post mortem examination arising in the lymphatic nodes of head and chest as to (a) the portal of infection, (b) the possible routes of infection and (c) the risk presented by those badgers to other animals.

Ben Bradshaw: Infection with Mycobacterium bovis frequently causes lesions in the respiratory tract and the associated lymph nodes of badgers, which suggests that a common route of infection is by inhalation, or ingestion followed by inhalation. Where there is infection of the respiratory tract, it is probable that there are phases of M. bovis excretion of infected saliva via the respiratory tract, which may contaminate pasture or animal feed containers.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether material contaminated with the M. bovis bacilli deposited on grassland by badgers and subsequently entrained in hay used for the feeding of cattle is considered to present a significant risk of infection to (a) cattle, (b) farmers and (c) other persons who may handle this material.

Ben Bradshaw: As the organism Mycobacterium bovis prefers damp mild conditions it is unlikely to survive the hay making process. We consider that there is no significant risk of infection to cattle, farmers or other persons who may handle hay.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in how many Krebs reactive areas badger culling was commenced in May 2003; how many farms were involved in these areas; how many of those farms had had (a) one and (b) two 60-day tests after the clearance operations; and what the results were of those tests.

Ben Bradshaw: The first reactive operation in Triplet I commenced in May 2003. Reactive operations in Triplets A, B and C had commenced prior to May 2003 and further operations occurred during May 2003 in these Triplets.
	The number of infected cattle herds triggering reactive culling operations in May 2003 in Triplets I, A, B and C totalled 20. The number and testing details of premises over which these operations took place cannot be provided at proportionate cost.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what methods other than gassing are available for the culling of badgers; and what statutory restrictions apply to those alternatives.

Ben Bradshaw: Gassing is not a legal method of killing badgers.
	The badger is a fully protected species. It is an offence to kill (or attempt to kill) a badger by any method (Protection of Badgers Act 1992 s.1(1)).
	Badgers are also listed under Schedule 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it a specific offence to poison badgers (including by gassing) (s.11(2)(a)).
	A person guilty of these offences is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for up to six months and/or a fine of up to 5,000.
	Where killing is carried out under a licence issued by Defra, the technique employed will depend on the particular circumstances of the individual case, but will normally involve cage trapping and humane dispatch by shooting.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what changes there were in the protocol for badger trapping in the period 1975 to 1997; and what effect they had on the success rate of trapping operations.

Ben Bradshaw: The key operational features of badger control strategies from 1975 to 1996 are set out in Appendix 3 to the Krebs Report. We have no validated data on the success rate of the various culling strategies.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 8 December 2003, Official Report, column 212W, on badgers, what her best estimate is of the typical kill rates of badgers during the Krebs culling programmes; what the worst rates were; and what the impact was of low kill rates on the (a) conduct and (b) outcome of the trials.

Ben Bradshaw: There is no precise way of measuring badger populations pre- and post-culling operations and estimates are made in the Randomised Badger Culling Trial based on field signs at a sample number of setts. Culling success is affected by a range of factors including levels of access, anti-trial activity and the time of the year, and where proactive culling in a triplet has been carried out at a sub-optimal time the next cull, where possible, is planned for more optimal periods.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what precautions can be taken by farmers to guarantee freedom from TB in cattle bought into herds; and to what extent she advises that they can rely on a test or other certification attesting to freedom from TB infection.

Ben Bradshaw: There can be no guarantee of remaining free of bovine TB. However farmers are encouraged to take all practical disease prevention measures to reduce the risk of disease introduction when bringing in new stock, including arranging a tuberculin test of purchased cattle before they are brought into to the resident herd.
	The Department provides advice in the form of a freely available booklet TB in CattleReducing the Risk. A concise list of disease prevention measures which was developed with livestock industry representatives and vets, was sent to all livestock farmers in 2002; it can be found on the Defra website.
	The comparative tuberculin skin test is used to certify that cattle herds are free from bovine tuberculosis, the comparative skin test at the standard interpretation, provides sensitivity in the range 68 per cent. to 95 per cent. and specificity in the range in the range 96 per cent. to 99 per cent.
	Clearly a negative test result on individual animals brought into a herd will not guarantee their freedom from disease, although it will substantially reduce the risk. A recent clear herd test result for the herd of origin will reduce the risk that imported animals have been exposed to infection still further.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the consultation on the new TB strategy will commence; and whether she expects that the detailed results and conclusions from the Krebs trials will be available prior to that consultation.

Ben Bradshaw: We aim to publish a consultation document Preparing for a new GB Strategy on bovine tuberculosis in February. The document will represent the outcome of the first stage of the review announced by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at last year's NFU Annual General Meeting. The consultation document will contain proposals for action in the short term including measures to prevent the geographical spread of the disease.
	The Independent Scientific Group on cattle TB (ISG) anticipates that the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (or the 'Krebs Trial') operations will be complete by 2006. The ISG will report to Ministers thereafter.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what has been the total expenditure by her Department on investigating the pathogenesis and epidemiology of Bovine TB since 1997; and what the planned expenditure is over the next five years.

Ben Bradshaw: Total expenditure since 1997 on research projects investigating the pathogenesis and epidemiology of Bovine TB is 17.3 million. Research already commissioned for 20045 onwards totals 5.6 million and consultations for research requirements to start from the financial year 0506 have been initiated. Epidemiology and pathogenesis will continue to be important parts of the bovine TB research programme.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to compensate herd owners for uninsurable losses arising from the event of a TB herd breakdown.

Ben Bradshaw: The Government currently pays compensation to farmers for the market value of all cattle slaughtered under the TB control programme. There are no plans to compensate for consequential losses.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what inference she has drawn from the number of slaughterhouse cases of bovine TB as to the efficacy of the TB surveillance programme.

Ben Bradshaw: The examination of carcases in the slaughterhouse complements surveillance through the periodic testing of cattle. Identification of infected carcases in slaughterhouses does not necessarily reflect a failure of the tuberculin test to detect the infection: given that infected cattle can develop grossly visible lesions within a relatively short time after infection with Mycobacterium bovis, it would be expected that some animals will become infected and be presented for slaughter in the intervals between herd tests, which can last up to four years. In recent years, the proportion of TB incidents that are detected in the slaughterhouse is lower in parishes where herds are tested more frequently, in other words frequent tuberculin testing reduces the risk that diseased cattle are disclosed during slaughterhouse inspection.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action is taken in respect of slaughterhouse cases of bovine TB to trace the animals back to the farm of origin; what proportion of these cases were traced back to source in the last five years; and how many herds identified as a result of such action were subsequently confirmed as TB breakdowns.

Ben Bradshaw: All suspects detected in the slaughterhouse are traced back to the farm of origin, movement restrictions are imposed and the herd is check tested.
	Material from animals with lesions detected at slaughter is submitted for laboratory confirmation of the presence of the causative organism, Mycobacterium bovis. Typically, about 35 per cent. to 50 per cent. of suspected cases of TB detected during routine meat inspection are eventually confirmed by culture of M. bovis in tissue samples, which automatically triggers a confirmed TB breakdown in the herd of origin whether or not reactors are found in the subsequent check test. Between 10 and 13 per cent. of all new TB breakdowns confirmed in a given year are started by a 'slaughterhouse case' and between 34 and 47 per cent. of such breakdowns will have reactors in the subsequent check test.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she has identified a statistically significant correlation between the distribution of TB infection in badgers and the distribution of TB in cattle.

Ben Bradshaw: The report from the Independent Scientific Review Group, chaired by Sir John Krebs, which reported in 1997, concluded that there was strong evidence for an association between TB in cattle and badgers. This relationship will be investigated further using data collected in the Randomised Badger Culling Trial, which is currently underway.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs where slaughterhouse cases of bovine TB are identified as having originated in animals which have transited through livestock markets immediately prior to despatch for slaughter; what measures are taken in those markets to contain the spread of disease; and what action is taken to trace possible contact animals consequently confirmed as TB breakdowns.

Ben Bradshaw: The transmission of the causative organism, Mycobacterium bovis, between cattle requires in most cases for the animals to be in close proximity with each other. While there is a risk that the organism could be transmitted between cattle at a market, conditions are such that this is a relatively low risk. Thus tracings of cattle that have come into contact with infected animals do not take into account contacts that take place in markets.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what herd TB breakdowns have been recorded in the last 10 years in areas (a) where there have been no badgers detected and (b) following complete clearance of badgers.

Ben Bradshaw: There is insufficient reliable data on the extent and varying density of the badger population of Great Britain to identify, with any certainty, areas where there is an absence of badgers. No area, in the last 10 years, has been completely cleared of badgers.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what causation models, or combinations thereof, are being used by her Department to determine the cause of bovine TB and mechanisms of transmission; what the specific criteria are which make up the models; and which criteria remain to be satisfied before a firm association can be made between the presence of infection in the badger population and the presence of the disease in cattle.

Ben Bradshaw: To help to determine the cause of bovine TB and mechanisms of transmission, the Department has investigated spatially explicit GIS-based stochastic simulation badger/TB models. The models are complex and are described in detail in a range of scientific publications available from the Central Science Laboratory. The Randomised Badger Culling Trial is seeking to address the question of the contribution of the presence of infection in badgers to the presence of the disease in cattle, and results will be available in due course.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with regard to the TB control operation in Thornbury, what the level was of cattle TB in the trial area prior to the removal of badgers; how many times, by what methods, and how thoroughly the removal was effected; whether these operations led to an elimination of badgers; how soon after the completion of operations badgers re-colonised the area; and at what level the re-colonisation was noted.

Ben Bradshaw: The incidence of herds with visible lesion reactors in the Thornbury intervention area, prior to badger clearance starting, was 74 in 1,314 herd years or 5.6 per cent. No reliable record exists of the number of gassing operations, but the Zuckerman Report refers to gassing starting in December 1975 and continuing to August 1976. Many setts were re-colonised immediately and a considerable amount of re-gassing was necessary. The gas used in Thornbury was hydrogen cyanide and the badger activity was reduced to a low level by 197980 (Zuckerman Report). The badger population at Thornbury took about 10 years to recover once action to prevent re-colonisation ceased.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with regard to the TB control operation in Thornbury, for how long after the completion of operations cattle remained clear of TB, as assessed by use of cattle tuberculin tests.

Ben Bradshaw: No confirmed cases of tuberculosis in cattle in the area of the Thornbury operation were disclosed by the tuberculin test in the 10-year period following the cessation of gassing.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 10 December 2003, Official Report, column 525W, when she expects to be able to release details of the content and funding of the future TB research programme, with specific reference to the funding of vaccine research.

Ben Bradshaw: Future funding of the TB research programme, in common with all Government expenditure, will be considered as part of the 2004 Spending Review, which is under way and will be finalised later in the year.
	Future TB research requirements, including those for vaccine research, will be announced in May or June with the publication of the Animal Health and Welfare Research Requirements Document (RRD). Details of bovine TB research work currently being funded by Defra can be found on the Defra website.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 8 December 2003, Official Report, column 216W, what criteria have to be satisfied by (a) farmers and (b) livestock hauliers in order to gain multiple pick-up approval; who is responsible for granting approval; and what costs are involved in granting approval.

Ben Bradshaw: All multiple pick-ups and drop-offs must take place at premises that have prior approval from Defra to operate as a multiple pick-up/drop-off site. The conditions under which multiple pick-ups and drop-offs may take place are set out in Annex B of the General Licences for cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. These licences can be found on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/movements/documents/default.htm
	Inspectors or local veterinary inspectors are at Defra's expense. An inspection is carried out to ensure that the requirements of the licences can be met. The inspection is carried out either by animal health officers, veterinary officers, temporary veterinary inspectors or local veterinary inspectors and is at Defra's expense.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what further estimate she has made of the increase in bovine TB following the discontinuance of reactive culling.

Ben Bradshaw: The Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB (ISO) has indicated that it will continue to analyse data from the treatment areas randomised as reactive areas as part of its regular interim analyses. The next such analysis, using data to March 2004, is expected to take place in April.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 10 December 2003, Official Report, column 523W, on badgers, how many individual clearance operations in the Krebs areas were specifically related to individual farms; how many such operations covered more than one farm; and what difference there was in the TB incidence in cattle on farms which were part of an operation covering more than one farm as compared with those which were subject to an operation covering only one farm.

Ben Bradshaw: Management records indicate that 78 reactive operations were carried out under the Randomised Badger Culling Trial and these involved 172 notified, infected premises. Of these operations, 37 related to a single infected premise. The extent of TB incidence was not a factor considered when grouping geographically proximal breakdown premises for reactive culling operations.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Department's responses to Professor Zuckerman's recommendations on protecting badgers and cattle from TB.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department's responses to Professor Zuckerman's recommendations are summarised in Appendix 1 of Professor Dunnet's report to the Department in 1986 entitled Badgers and Bovine TuberculosisReview of Policy. A copy of the report is available in the House of Commons Library.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which of the (a) proactive and (b) reactive and (c) control areas of the Krebs trials underwent boundary changes after initial designation of the areas; and when these changes occurred.

Ben Bradshaw: All trial areas were modified marginally to include or exclude whole farm premises following surveying and prior to initial proactive culling. On occasions, slight changes in treatment boundary have been agreed by the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB in response to changes observed in badger activity and social group organisation.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department have established a field scale experiment to model postulated modes of transmission of bovine TB between badgers and cattle to test hypotheses relating to the spread mechanisms of the disease using live or attenuated TB bacilli, or indicator organisms which mimic the behaviour of the TB bacilli.

Ben Bradshaw: Defra has not established a trial of this nature. Epidemiological surveys are being undertaken which will provide information on risk factors associated with the occurrence of disease outbreaks.

British Beef Ban

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action the Government are taking to secure compensation for British farmers who suffered loss as a result of the action of the French Government in continuing to ban British beef following the breach of the European Court of Justice ruling of December 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 27 January 2004
	The Government cannot claim compensation because they have no direct commercial interest. Those parties who were directly affected by the illegal French ban must decide for themselves whether to seek such compensation for losses.
	However we will provide information and practical assistance (although not financial support or detailed legal advice) to exporters who wish to pursue claims for compensation.

Civil Servants

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much space, expressed in square metres, the Department occupies for the offices of civil servants in (a) central London and (b) Greater London.

Alun Michael: Defra's total office space for its civil servants in central London is 63,045.35 square metres with an additional 98.41 square metres in outer London, giving a total for Greater London of 63,143.76 square metres.

Combustion Plants

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many states in the EU have applied for the National Plan option under the Large Combustion Plant Directive.

Elliot Morley: According to information provided by the European Commission, two other member states in addition to the UK: Ireland and Finland, have submitted a National Plan under the Directive.

Contractors

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what conclusions have been drawn by her Department on (a) commissioning the services of contractors during animal health emergencies and (b) the keeping and auditing of accounts; and what advice she will give to contractors who may be requested to supply goods or services to her Department in a future emergency.

Ben Bradshaw: The conclusions that have been drawn by the Department on (a) commissioning the services of contractors during animal health emergencies and (b) the keeping and auditing of accounts are as follows:
	The Department will deal with those contractors who meet its requirements for eligibility and economic and financial standing, together with the ability and technical capacity to deliver the goods, services and works required;
	The Department will take all sufficient and necessary steps to prevent windows of commercial opportunity being opened up by contractors to taxpayers disbenefit during animal health or any other emergencies;
	The Department requires its contractors to substantiate their charges and allow Defra to verify that the charges invoiced are fully in accordance with the contractual provisions.
	Contractors who may be requested to supply goods, services or works to the Department in a future emergency will be asked, as is currently the case, to comply with the terms of the contracts agreed with them.

Correspondence

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she intends to reply to the letter dated 28 October 2003 from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan to the Minister for Farming, Food and Sustainable Energy, regarding his constituent, Mr. T. Curran of Portsoy.

Alun Michael: The hon. Member's letter of 28 October was addressed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
	The Department of Trade and Industry approached the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with a view to transferring the hon. Member's correspondence there. That Department then approached Defra.
	The subject raised by the hon. Member is not a matter for this Department and therefore a transfer did not take place. The hon. Member may wish to raise this issue with the Department to whom he originally wrote.

Dairy Farming

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to meet representatives of supermarkets to discuss United Kingdom dairy farming.

Alun Michael: The Secretary of State has had no formal meetings with representatives of supermarkets to discuss milk prices. However, retailers are represented on the Dairy Supply Chain Forum chaired by my noble Friend Lord Whitty, which has been looking at collaborative solutions to improve supply chain efficiency, as well as other issues. Retailers are also represented in the Dairy Supply Chain Forum's Industry Development's Cap Reform Sub-Groups which aim to facilitate the long term sustainable development of the dairy supply chain and help it adjust to the new environment created by the reformed CAP.

Effluent Dumping

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to prevent farmers from dumping effluent in rivers.

Elliot Morley: The dumping of effluent in rivers is an offence under the Water Resources Act (WRA) 1991. The Environment Agency (the Agency) is responsible for regulating discharges of effluent to watercourses and issues discharge consents under Schedule 10 of the WRA. In all cases, consents are subject to strict conditions to ensure protection of the receiving water.
	It is rare for a consent to be issued to a discharge of farm effluent because of the difficulty of achieving the standards necessary to protect the watercourse. It is accepted practice that slurry, manure and dirty water from farm buildings is contained and usually applied to land in accordance with the relevant sections of Defra's Code of Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Water.
	The Control of Pollution (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) Regulations 1991 (and as amended in 1997) specify the size, design and construction standards that must be used for structures built since 1991 and used for storage of these specified materials. These Regulations also provide powers for the Agency to serve a notice, requiring action to avoid pollution, on a storage structure of any age where the Agency considers there is a serious risk of pollution.
	In addition, both Defra and the Agency publish a wide range of relevant advisory literature which is available to farmers.

Environmental Taxation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2004, Official Report, columns 25556W, on environmental taxation, if she will break down into component parts the 2.85 per cent. UK figure.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 26 January 2004
	The OECD breakdown of UK environmental taxation into its component parts for the year 2001 is given in the table herewith.
	
		OECD breakdown by tax of UK environmental taxation for 2001
		
			 Name of tax  million 
		
		
			 Duty on hydrocarbon oils 22,046.0 
			 Leaded petrol 3.1 
			 Unleaded petrol 1,979.5 
			 Ultra low sulphur petrol 11,042.2 
			 Diesel 59.8 
			 Ultra low sulphur diesel 8,754.2 
			 Non-fossil fuel obligation levy 86.0 
			 Vehicle excise duty 4,061.0 
			 Air passenger duty 824.0 
			 Landfill tax 505.0 
			 Climate Change Levy 588.0 
			 Gas regulator fees 13.0 
			 Electricity regulator fees 14.0 
			 Water regulator fees 13.0 
			 Fees paid to the Environment Agency 190.0 
			 Total 28,340.0

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions in the UK were brought against fishermen in each of the last 10 years for landing black fish; and how many fishermen were convicted.

Ben Bradshaw: Information in the form requested is not readily available. However information extracted from returns on serious fisheries infringements in the United Kingdom submitted to the European Commission since 2000 in response Council Regulation (EC) No 1447/1999 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2740/1999 shows that the number of infringements involving the falsification of logbooks, landing declarations and sales notes, for which prosecutions were completed and with which black fish landings are associated, were:
	
		Black fish landings
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2000 31 
			 2001 55 
			 2002 78 
		
	
	Most of the infringements for which prosecutions were taken resulted in a successful conviction.

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate her Department has made of changes in the tonnage of black fish landed by the United Kingdom registered fishing fleet in (a) home and (b) foreign ports in the last five years; and what her estimate is of the tonnage of black fish landed in the last year.

Ben Bradshaw: No estimates have been produced by the Department of the overall levels of illegal landings for the 100 or so fish stocks for which the UK has quota.

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial contributions her Department made in the last five financial years to fisheries research (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned by the European Union; and what the projects were.

Ben Bradshaw: Details of the level of Defra financial contribution to EU fisheries research projects, and the project titles, active between 19992000 and 200304 is given in the following table.
	
		DEFRA contributions to EU fisheries projects between 19992000 and 200304 -- 
		
			 Title DEFRA funded 
		
		
			 EC FAIR Programme: A calibration of different molecular markers for use in the discrimination and management of stocks of commercially Important Species C0135 EC 95/0282 120,240 
			 EC FAIR Programme, 1996: European fish aging networkEfan C0300 EC FAIR CT 96 1304 9,829 
			 EC FAIR Programme 1997: diachronic changes in growth rate of North Sea fish species in relation to anthropogenic activities and climate changes C0418 EC FAIR CT 97 3462 44,150 
			 EC STUDIES: evaluation and development of spatio-temporal models and survey designs for efficient assessment of mackerel and horse- mackerel C0532 EC 97/0097 5,974 
			 EC STUDIES: monitoring fish and epibenthic biodiversity in the north sea and Skagerrak C0738 EC 98/02 139,550 
			 EC STUDIES: monitoring discarding and retention on fishing vessels towing demersal gears in the North Sea and Skagerrak C0739 EC 98/097 116,807 
			 EC STUDIES: evaluation of market sampling for a number of commercially exploited fish stocks in the North Sea C0768 EC 98/075 62,928 
			 EC STUDIES: optimisation of the design of a summer trawl research vessel study for north sea stock C0769 EC 98/029 19,267 
			 EC STUDIES: development of stock assessment methodologies egg production estimates of Irish Sea demersal stocks C0798 EC 98/090 268,967 
			 EC FAIR: shelf-edge advection, mortality and recruitment (SEAMAR) C0938 FAIR CT983695 2,250 
			 EC STUDIES framework to improve the assessment of demersal and pelagic fisheries in western European waters FIEFA 2 C0950 76,341 
			 EC STUDIES alternative uses of data from satellite monitoring of fishing vessel activity in fisheries management C0955 52,792 
			 EC STUDIES development of elasmobranch assessments C0963 24,375 
			 EC STUDIES collection and evaluation of assessment data for key European edible crab stocks C0981 57,618 
			 EC FPV development of structurally detailed statistically testable models of marine populations (DST) C0982 152,401 
			 EC FPV combining geostatistical and Bayesian methods to improve the scientific basis for the management of Atlantic mackerel fisheries C0989 422,787 
			 EC FPV European decapod crustacean fisheries: assessment and management (EDFAM) C1047 11,058 
			 EC FPV determination of the linkage between hydrographical frontal activity and ecosystem dynamics in the North Sea and Skagerrak LIFECO C1080 X5RS-200030183 398,483 
			 EC STUDIES mackerel triennial egg survey WGMEGS C1237 00/038 153,448 
			 EC FPV combining acoustic and trawl data for estimating fish abundance CATEFA C1251 QLRT-200002038 125,914 
			 Comparative behavioural dynamics of cod in European waters (CODYSSEY) C1451 QLRT-200100813 445,748 
			 Integrated approach to the biological basis of age estimation in commercially important fish species (IBACS) C1473QLRT-200101610 93,021 
			 Reproductive potential of cod and hake in relation to recovery plans RASER C1492QLRT-200101825 130,066 
			 Framework for the evaluation of management strategies (FEMS) C1502QLRT-200101824 95,685 
			 Technological developments and tactical adaptions of important EU fleets (TECTAC) C1522QLRT-200101291 99,259 
			 Policy knowledge in fisheries managementthe North Sea cod case (PKFM) C1528QLRT-200101782 36,792

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what representations she has received from (a) fishermen and (b) their representatives on the (i) application and (ii) utility of selective gear in reducing cod by-catch in haddock fisheries;
	(2)  what consultations her Department had with British fishing industry representatives about linking the increase in the haddock quota with spatial management;
	(3)  when she was first informed of the Commission's proposal to link spatial management with the increase in the British haddock quota;
	(4)  how much time was spent at the December Fisheries Council discussing options for increasing the haddock quota for Scottish boats in International Council for the Exploration of the Seas areas IVa and IVb without resorting to the principle of spatial management;
	(5)  what proposals she and her officials put to the (a) Council of Ministers and (b) Commission in or before December 2003 with the aim of enabling Scottish fishermen to maximise opportunities to catch European haddock.

Ben Bradshaw: Representations from the industry indicated, variously, a preference for some kind of spatial management. Technical conservation methods (such as selective gear) were also advocated by some as an option to be considered in parallel with spatial management as they are developed.
	At the December Fisheries Council all the options to enable responsible exploitation of the North sea haddock stock were considered at some length, but the solution agreed was developed from the spatial management proposed by the industry. In order to secure additional quota for the UK, we negotiated the special licensing system to ensure protection of the cod stock.

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of cod sold in the British retail market is caught by British registered boats.

Ben Bradshaw: Information available on landings of and trade in cod in 2002 indicates that landings by UK registered vessels accounted for 15 per cent. of total cod consumed in the UK during the year. However, most of the cod imported into the UK has been processed to some extent. As such on a standardised live weight equivalent basis, the landings by UK registered vessels accounted for 5 per cent. of total cod consumed in the UK in 2002.

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of the economic impact of including steaming time in the days at sea allowance on the fishing ports of north east England;
	(2)  what the reason is for including steaming time in the days at sea allowance.

Ben Bradshaw: The time at sea limits in 2003 provided for a separate allowance of days for steaming to and from the fishing grounds, for vessels using gear of over 100 mm mesh. No separate allowance exists for 2004, because the calculation of days at sea for 2004 takes account of the fleet's time at sea in the base period, including its steaming time.
	The permitted number of days for the vessels using over 100 mm mesh gear is 15 per month for 2004, the same total as in 2003.

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what limitations have been placed on the locations in which the (a) monkfish and (b) megrim quota awarded to the Scottish fleet can be caught in International Council for the Exploration of the Seas areas IVa and IVb.

Ben Bradshaw: No such limitations apply specifically to the monkfish or megrim quotas set for the management area comprising International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) areas lla (EC waters) and IV (EC waters).

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the reason is for excluding pelagic boats from the cod exclusion zone in International Council for the Exploration of the Seas area VIa.

Ben Bradshaw: No scientific reason was adduced for this. The Commission has now acknowledged that the provision is more restrictive than is necessary to protect cod, and is working on revised wording.

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the approximate landed fish values of the quotas of (a) cod, (b) haddock, (c) monkfish and (d) megrim, awarded to the Scottish fishing fleet in International Council for the Exploration of the Seas areas IVa and IVb were for this year.

Ben Bradshaw: It is not possible to estimate in advance the value of quota. Fish quota, held in the form of Fixed Quota Allocation Units, has no intrinsic value. Any value placed on uncaught quota used in quota transfers will depend on market conditions and each parties assessment of its value. The table shows the value at first point of sale of fish landed by the Scottish fleet from ICES areas IVa and IVb in the most recent year for which complete figures are available. It gives an indication of the value realised by landings of these quota species.
	
		Value of fish landed by the Scottish fleet 2002 -- 000
		
			  Area of capture 
			 Landed fish IVa IVb  
		
		
			 Monkfish 17,379 469 
			 Cod 20,109 1,309 
			 Haddock 20,114 4,804 
			 Megrim 2,774 2

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what factors affect the (a) seaworthiness and (b) ability to trawl in adverse weather conditions of fishing vessels; what effect these factors have on the ability of vessels to exploit fully allocations of days at sea.

Ben Bradshaw: The seaworthiness of fishing vessels, and their ability to trawl in adverse weather, depend on various factors, including their design and construction, the standard of maintenance, and the standard of operation of the vessels. It is the responsibility of the skipper to determine when it is safe to fish.
	In any year fishing operations will be curtailed from time to time by adverse weather. The calculation of permitted days at sea for 2004 takes account of the time spent at sea in the base period, including when fishing was constrained by bad weather. It thus incorporates time for when fishing is not safe.

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the implications of the use of days at sea restrictions on regulating fishing effort.

Ben Bradshaw: Limits on time at sea applied in 2003 in the North sea and West of Scotland, to help conserve cod stocks. On the basis of experience with this measure the European Commission and the member states concluded that limits on time at sea should be continued in order to reduce fishing effort as part of a cod recovery plan. Experience in administering the various elements of controls in 2003 informed decisions by the Council of Ministers on the details of successor arrangements for 2004. The Government's objective in negotiations on the 2004 arrangements took account of the views of the fishing industry on the 2003 measures.

Foot and Mouth

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will investigate the (a) adequacy of the grounds and (b) quality of decision-making in her Department in pursuing prosecutions of contractors for alleged fraudulent claims or other irregularities relating to the claims made for the work undertaken for or on behalf of her Department in respect of foot and mouth disease.

Ben Bradshaw: The prosecution of contractors for alleged fraudulent claims is a criminal matter. In such cases, Defra would refer the matter to the appropriate authorities tasked with deciding whether to prosecute or not.
	On the civil side, claims are initiated on the advice of Defra's lawyers. In the commercial disputes pertaining to the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001 this advice has been provided by external commercial law firms in conjunction with forensic accountants and quantity surveyors after detailed review of contractor accounts. In many cases Defra has been successful in resolving disputes through negotiation and/or alternative disputes resolution procedures. Other disputes are being pursued through the Courts.
	Defra has a public law duty to protect the public purse. It will do so unfailingly in all circumstances where the evidence is sufficient to meet legal requirements in either a civil or criminal context.

Foot and Mouth

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total payments made to date to contractors in respect of works commissioned by (a) her Department and (b) its predecessor, carried out in relation to the foot and mouth epidemic of 2001 are.

Ben Bradshaw: Total payments of 1,247 million have been made to date to contractors in respect of works commissioned by the Department carried out in relation to the foot and mouth epidemic in 2001.

Foot and Mouth

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations have been made to her Department concerning the intimidation of contractors and their representatives by officials of her Department in pursuit of reducing or discounting the value of invoices or claims made by them in respect of services provided to her Department in relation to the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic.

Ben Bradshaw: The Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Small Business Group has drawn the Department's attention to one case where a contractor has alleged intimidating and inappropriate communications from Defra.
	To date, Defra has not received any evidence in support of the allegation that intimidation of contractors and their representatives has taken place.
	Any such representations would be considered on their merits having regard to the motives of those persons making such representations.

Genetic Modification

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will define the terms very low and unlikely as used in the GM Science Review in July 2003.

Elliot Morley: I take the terms very low and unlikely as used by the GM Science Review Panel to indicate sequences of events or risks that, while theoretically possible, do not occur with sufficient probability to be cause for concern. The precise level of probability associated with these terms with vary on a case-by-case basis, depending on the particular issue that is being discussed.

Lead Content

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 14 January 2004, Official Report, column 737W, on lead content, what studies she has commissioned concerning lead in glass crystal; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Department has commissioned no studies concerning lead in glass crystal.

Management Consultants

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost to her Department of using management consultants has been in each of the last five years.

Alun Michael: Defra was formed in June 2001. The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Municipal Waste

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to ensure that local authorities continue to recycle municipal waste after 200506 when statutory responsibility ends; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 14 January 2004, Official Report, column 740W. As that answer explained, this year's review of national recycling targets will include consideration of whether to set further statutory recycling targets for local authorities for the years beyond 200506. Although I cannot prejudge the outcome of that review, the Government's goal will remain to encourage local authorities to continue to move management of municipal waste up the waste hierarchy in order to meet their obligations under the Landfill Directive.

Pesticides

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what criteria the Government use to assess the progress of the voluntary initiative on pesticides;
	(2)  what progress has been made with the voluntary initiative on pesticides; and how many hectares of land are now covered by the Crop Protection Management Plan.

Alun Michael: The Government have charged the signatories to the Voluntary Initiative on pesticides with reducing the environmental impact of pesticide use and, in particular, effects on biodiversity and contamination of water. These environmental outcomes will be the ultimate measure of success for the Initiative.
	However, measuring environmental outcomes is difficult because they are slow to emerge, hard to measure and hard to attribute reliably to a particular cause. Because of these difficulties, the Government also assesses progress with the Initiative in terms of uptake by farmers of the key components of the Initiative. Of these, the most significant are the National Register of Sprayer Operators, the National Sprayer Testing Scheme and Crop Protection Management Plans.
	To help test whether delivery of the Initiative will benefit the environment, the signatories are establishing an Indicator Farms project to examine the consequences of applying Initiative measures at a farm level. If the results of this project are positive, it will help provide assurance that national uptake of the Initiative could generate national environmental benefits.
	Overall progress to date with the Initiative is encouraging. Uptake of Crop Protection Management Plans is ahead of schedule and, after a slow start, applications for the National Register of Sprayer Operators and National Sprayer Testing Scheme have accelerated with the backing of the crop assurance schemes. The Government will look to see this progress maintained and will also look for the most rapid possible progress with environmental outcomes. In particular, the Government will be monitoring the pilot water catchments and the Indicator Farms project.
	The Crop Protection Association advise that, as of the week commencing 19 January, around 365,000 hectares were covered by Crop Protection Management Plans.

Security Passes

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in (i) her Department and (ii) departmental agencies in the last 12 months.

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in her Department in the last 12 months.

Alun Michael: During 2003 available figures for the core Department show that 108 passes were reported lost and 12 stolen. These passes are electronically programmed and give no indication of the Department to which they relate. Once a loss is reported the pass is cancelled immediately which ends any threat to security.
	Figures for Defra Agencies are as follows:
	
		
			  Lost Stolen 
		
		
			 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science 16 1 
			 Central Science Laboratory 11 0 
			 Veterinary Laboratories Agency 6 0 
			 Veterinary Medicines Directorate 10 0 
			 Rural Payments Agency 350 5 
			 Pesticides Safety Directorate 1 0 
		
	
	The high figure for the Rural Payments Agency is a result of employees on short term contracts failing to return their passes when they leave. This is being addressed.

Sunset Clauses

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her policy on the use of sunset clauses in legislation; and which Acts containing such clauses relevant to her Department were passed in each year since 1997.

Alun Michael: Defra actively promotes the better regulation agenda and the use of sunsetting where appropriate. The Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) guidance 'Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment' advises policy officials to consider sunsetting at an early stage of policy development and gives specific circumstances where sunsetting may be appropriate. Additional examples are included in the web-based version of the RIA guidance published in November 2003. No acts containing sunset clauses relevant to Defra have been passed since Defra was established in 2001.

Underground Fuel Tanks

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many leakages from underground fuel tanks were reported to the Environment Agency in the last five years.

Elliot Morley: Information from the Environment Agency's database for these years will take a little time to compile but will be made available to the Library of the House as soon as possible. I will write to the hon. Member when that is, and I will place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

HEALTH

Dentists

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) principal and (b) assistant dentists there were in (i) England, (ii) each NHS region and (iii) each strategic health authority who (A) offered NHS treatment and (B) had vacancies for NHS patients, in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: pursuant to her reply, 14 January 2004, Official Report, c. 800W
	I regret that the strategic health authority figures for general dentist service dentists for 2003 in table 1 of my previous response, separately for principal dentists and dental assistants were incorrect, and should have read as follows.
	
		Table 1: Number of general dental service dentists in England by region and strategic health authority for September 1999 to 2003
		
			  2003 2003 
			  Principal Dentists Assistant Dentists 
		
		
			 England 16,649 1,312 
			
			 Region   
			 Northern and Yorkshire   
			 Trent   
			 West Midlands   
			 North West   
			 Eastern   
			 London   
			 South East   
			 South and West   
			 Strategic Health Authority   
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 786 58 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 602 62 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country 663 50 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 779 36 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 346 8 
			 Coventry, Warks, Herefordshire and Worcs. 489 31 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 601 23 
			 Dorset and Somerset 418 38 
			 Essex 462 57 
			 Greater Manchester 852 37 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 567 77 
			 Kent and Medway 507 63 
			 Leics, Northants and Rutland 424 17 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 658 119 
			 North and East Yorkshire and N. Lincs 499 18 
			 North Central London 561 36 
			 North East London 438 54 
			 North West London 787 82 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 469 13 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 430 13 
			 South East London 525 44 
			 South West London 534 50 
			 South West Peninsula 555 47 
			 South Yorkshire 405 20 
			 Surrey and Sussex 1,084 87 
			 Thames Valley 795 78 
			 Trent 724 69 
			 West Yorkshire 689 25 
		
	
	Note:
	Assistant dentist numbers do not include VDPs (vocational dental practitioners).

Food in Schools Programme

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Food in Schools programme announced by his Department on 30 December 2003 is linked to the Food in Schools programme announced by his Department in April 2001; and what the differences are between the programmes announced on those dates.

Melanie Johnson: In 2001 the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills announced a joint venture on Food in Schools. My announcement on the 5 January 2004 was to publicise the eight new regional projects being piloted in each English region to encourage healthy eating among children throughout the school day which are the Department of Health's strand of the Food in Schools Programme.
	The Department for Education and Skills strand of the Food in Schools Programme comprises eight curriculum focused projects which cover teacher training and professional development, as well as development of guidelines, resources and curriculum materials.

Hospital Admissions

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will investigate the delay in admitting Mrs. H. Potter of Warrington to Wrightington Hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 18 December 2003
	The strategic health authorities lead the strategic development of local health services and performance manage primary care trusts and National Health Service trusts on the basis of local accountability agreements, following the Shifting the Balance of Power initiative.
	Unfortunately, to disclose information without the specific consent of the individual patient would breech patient confidentiality. My hon. Friend may wish to contact the Wrightington hospital.

Hospital-acquired Infection

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether published figures for deaths from hospital acquired infection are approximate; what the margin of error is for these figures; and what measures have been taken to improve the data.

Melanie Johnson: The widely quoted figure of 5,000 deaths being caused by hospital acquired infections (HAIs) is an extrapolation from estimates of deaths due to all HAIs in the United States in the 1980s 1 . Although it is difficult to compare data from different health systems, if rates in the United States were applicable to the United Kingdom then 5,000 deaths might be primarily attributable to health acquired infections.
	Better UK estimates cannot be produced as there are no centrally held statistics on deaths caused by hospital acquired infections.
	1 Haley et al (1985) The efficacy of infection surveillance and central programs in preventing nosocomial infections in US hospitals (SENIC). Amercican Journal of Epidemiology 121: 182205

Residential Care

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provisions he has made to ensure that funding of independent residential care providers encourages them to supply expected increases in demands on their services from 2005 onwards.

Stephen Ladyman: There have been substantial increases in the level of funding provided for social services in recent years and it will continue to increase in the period to 200506. Councils can use these extra resources to increase local service provision taking into account the needs of the local population and the local supply of services.
	We know that the majority of older people do not want to be in a care home and we are responding to this by investing in new models of provision such as extra-care housing schemes. It seems likely that the number of older people requiring residential care will not rise as fast as demographic pressures alone would suggest.

Scanners

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the normal life expectancy in the NHS is of (a) MRI, (b) CAT and (c) PET scanners.

Melanie Johnson: The expected life of computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) scanners is approximately seven to ten years, dependent on the level of upgrade that is possible for that equipment during its lifetime. However, it is not unreasonable for equipment to remain in-situ and in working order after this period.

Sexual Health

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England were treated for a sexually transmitted disease in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Melanie Johnson: There were 596,728 episodes of diagnosed or suspected sexually transmitted infections from genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics in England that were treated during the calendar year 2002. Additionally, there were 112,447 attendances at GUM clinics in England during 2002, where other conditions required treatment.
	The quarterly statutory returns (KC60), made to Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) from GUM clinics, record confirmed episodes of disease, rather than the number of people attending. Individuals may attend more than one GUM clinic and may attend more than once over the course of a calendar year.

Waiting Times

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will list each NHS trust which maintains planned lists on which people wait for operations but which are excluded from the inpatient and outpatient waiting list returns; what his Department's guidance is about the use of planned waiting lists; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many people are waiting for cataract operations on (a) waiting lists and (b) planned lists in each English health trust for the latest date for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Data are not collected on the number of patients currently waiting on planned lists.
	The use of planned lists has been an established practice for over 10 years. The Department has issued guidance to National Health Service trusts within the central return KH07 on recording patients waiting on planned lists. It states:
	Planned Admissions are those who have been given a date, or an approximate date, for admissions, usually as a planned sequence of clinical care. The date of admission for such patients is determined mainly on social or clinical grounds.
	In light of this guidance, it is likely that all trusts submitting waiting lists maintain planned lists for those patients requiring a planned sequence of clinical care.
	Data are not collected on the number of patients currently waiting for cataract surgery. However, data are collected on the number of patients on inpatient waiting lists within the specialty of ophthalmology.
	At quarter two, 200304, ending 30 September 2003, there were 130,060 patients on the inpatient waiting list for ophthalmology. Data are not collected on individual procedures within each specialty. Data for earlier quarters can be viewed on the Department's website at: www.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes. The national cataract initiative has been introduced to reduce waiting times for cataract operations to three months by December 2004.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Children's Centres

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children's centres are planned to open in 2004; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: There are now 61 children's centres in England, all of which are based in disadvantaged areas. Local authorities' strategic proposals are currently being assessed and more children's centres that meet the children's centre core offer have been identified. These will be announced in the next few weeks.
	We are currently unable to state how many children's centres will open in 2004 but the exact position will be clearer once local authorities have submitted their implementation plans by the end of May 2004.

Children's Fund

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on changes in the Children's Fund budget made after the mid-year review; and what assessment he has made of the effects of the changes.

Margaret Hodge: The 200304 mid year review of expenditure identified approximately 12.5 million in underspend from quarters 1 and 2.
	The Department met representatives from the main voluntary sector organisations involved in the Fund, the LGA and the ADSS on 18 December to discuss the review and assess its impact. Officials then wrote to all Children's Fund partnerships on 19 December 2003. We advised partnerships that where our decision to take back underspends at the mid-year review had compromised their ability to meet contractual obligations, we would revisit them. Furthermore, we set aside some money to assist where there was a likelihood of staff redundancy or premature closure of services. The Children's Fund regional teams have continued to discuss the detailed implications with partnerships and this process will be completed at the end of January.

Disabled Children

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of (a) disabled children's experience of abuse and (b) the effectiveness of existing systems in protecting disabled children;
	(2)  if he will develop a national strategy for the safeguarding of disabled children through consultation with disabled children and adults and organisations advocating on their behalf.

Margaret Hodge: The Department for Education and Skills regularly receives correspondence from parents and voluntary groups about issues affecting disabled children including child protection. This has included reports from the NSPCC, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and the National Working Group on Child Protection and Disability, which have influenced policy development. In particular, recent representations from the NSPCC were taken into account by the Disabled Children's External Working Group developing standards as part of the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services which will be published later this year. We welcome the publication of the recent report from the National Working Group, It doesn't happen to disabled children: child protection and disabled children, and will consider its recommendations when developing Government policy and guidance on child protection.
	The Joint Chief Inspectors' Report Safeguarding Children, published in October 2002, contained a recommendation that all relevant Inspectorates should ensure that, prior to the next report, appropriate inspection activity had been undertaken on children with disabilities. Safeguarding Children asked Chief Inspectors to consider whether there was a need to supplement the planned programme of inspections in any way. In planning for the next children's safeguards review, the Inspectorates have identified that additional activity is required in relation to children with disabilities and special needs and are developing plans to enhance their programmes in this area.

Divorce

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in the East Midlands were affected by divorce in (a) 200102 and (b) 200203.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	The only figures collected centrally relate to the number of children involved at the petition stage of divorce. The total number of children of couples who petitioned for divorce in the East Midlands region in the given periods are:
	
		
			  Petitions Children involved 
		
		
			 200102 12,467 7,537 
			 200203 12,991 7,707

Further Education

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the level of funding per pupil in further education in (a) Chorley and (b) Lancashire in 200304.

Alan Johnson: The Department does not collect information on the level of funding per pupil in further education at local or regional level. Mark Haysom, the Learning and Skills Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with details of the average level of funding per pupil in further education in (a) Chorley and (b) Lancashire in 200304. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

Further Education

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (a) the national average level of funding per further education student and (b) the level of funding per student for each further education college is in Shrewsbury and Atcham.

Alan Johnson: The Department does not collect information on the level of funding per pupil in further education at local or regional level. Mark Haysom, the Learning and Skills Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with details of the average level of funding per student for each further education college in Shrewsbury and Atcham. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library. Participation funding per full-time equivalent student in further education in England in 200304 is planned to be 3,830. This figure does not include funding for capital or funding for other specific initiatives. This figure is consistent with that published in the Departmental Annual Report 2003.

Higher Education

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the average cost to a student of the decision to undertake higher education, taking into account (a) loss of potential earnings while a full time student and (b) all other costs associated with the decision.

Alan Johnson: My officials have estimated that the average net present cost 1 of participating in a three-year HE course, starting in 200102, is around 29,000 (in 2001 prices). The figure includes:
	(a) direct costsi.e. contribution towards tuition fees (net of fee remission paid by Government), maintenance support from the family, and Government student loan repaymentsof around 12,000 and
	(b) indirect costsi.e. foregone earnings whilst in HE net of earnings whilst studying of around 17,000.
	In undiscounted cash terms, the direct and indirect average costs are around 13,600 and 18,000 respectively. The estimate is based on a hypothetical average individual entering HE at the age of 18, and the costs are averaged across all students.
	1 Discounted at 3.5 per cent.

Higher Education

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of people in Liverpool who have received higher education in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Johnson: The latest available information is shown in the table. Figures for earlier years are not held centrally.
	
		Proportion of 18-year-olds from Liverpool local education authority who were accepted for entry to full-time undergraduate courses via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)
		
			 Year of entry Proportion 
		
		
			 1994 12.7 
			 1995 14.7 
			 1996 13.4 
			 1997 13.9 
			 1998 14.0 
			 1999 15.9 
			 2000 16.3 
			 2001 17.5 
			 2002 18.2

Mature Students

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to modify the age cap on loans for mature students following his decision to introduce a 25-year cut-off period for student loans.

Alan Johnson: The age limit is 50 for eligible students meeting the residence requirements. Those aged 50 to 54 at the start of their course can also apply for a student loan provided that they plan to return to work after finishing their course. We have no plans to change these age limits for mature students.
	Outstanding loans for mature students are already cancelled when a borrower reaches the age of 65, and we have no plans to change that age limit. Putting a 25-year cap on the loan repayment period allows outstanding loan amounts to be written off after 25 years or age 65, whichever is the earlier.

Modern Apprenticeships

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the level of employer engagement with the modern apprenticeship scheme.

Ivan Lewis: The Learning and Training at Work 2002 survey reveals that 10 per cent. of all employers of 16 to 24 year olds employ Foundation Modern Apprenticeships (FMA) and 4 per cent. employ Advanced Modern Apprenticeships (AMA). Larger employers are much more likely to employ modern apprentices than small firms: of all employers with over 500 staff who employ 16 to 24 year olds, 29 per cent. employ FMAs and 24 per cent. employ AMAs.
	In 2002, 57 per cent. of employers were aware of AMAs (compared to 51 per cent. in 2001). Meanwhile, 45 per cent. of employers were aware of FMAs (compared to 39 per cent. in 2001).
	The latest survey of MA employers reveals that, in 89 per cent. of cases, employers are very satisfied with the MA programme. Moreover, the majority of current employers (representing 91 per cent. of MAs) say they intend to continue offering MAs in the future.

National Botanic Gardens of Wales

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with Welsh Assembly Government colleagues with regard to funding for the National Botanic Gardens of Wales.

Peter Hain: I have been asked to reply.
	I have regular discussions with Assembly Ministers about issues affecting Wales, these have included the National Botanical Gardens. It is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government to determine funding priorities in Wales.

Student Loans

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to raise the threshold at which existing graduates start repaying student loans.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 27 January 2004
	We plan to increase the threshold for the repayment of student loans from 10,000 to 15,000 with effect from April 2005. The increase in the threshold to 15,000 will apply to all borrowers regardless of when they took our their income contingent student loan.

Top-up Fees

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect of tuition fees on the number of doctors choosing to work abroad after qualification.

Alan Johnson: There is no reason to expect a significant effect. The Government have no evidence that there is a problem of more doctors leaving the UK permanently to work overseas. Doctors earn considerably in excess of the national average. So medical graduates will be able to pay off their student loan for living costs and for tuition fees comparatively rapidly.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Bribery

Simon Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General how many times since 1997 the Crown Prosecution Service has given advice to law enforcement agencies on whether an investigation into an offence of bribery of a foreign public official would have a realistic prospect of prosecution; and in how many of those instances its advice was that there would not be a realistic prospect of prosecution.

Harriet Harman: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not keep records of the nationality of persons who are the subject of police investigations and about whom their advice is sought. In order to obtain this information all relevant files will have to be identified across the 42 Areas and individually checked. The information could not be obtained except at disproportionate costs. But even this would not necessarily provide comprehensive data as a number of relevant older files may well have been destroyed in accordance with archiving procedures.

Outsourcing

Norman Lamb: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the Department's procurement policy with regard to offshore IT and call centre outsourcing; whether the Department is outsourcing IT and call centre jobs to offshore companies; to which countries the Department has outsourced these jobs; how much the Department has spent on this outsourcing in each of the last two years; and how much has been budgeted for this purpose for the next two years.

Harriet Harman: None of the Departments for which the Attorney General holds Ministerial responsibility currently outsource either call centre or IT services to offshore companies and have no current plans to do so. Consequently, the Departments have set no budget for this purpose over the next two years.

Security Passes

Paul Burstow: To ask the Solicitor-General how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in the Law Officers' Department in the last 12 months.

Harriet Harman: During 2003, CPS Headquarters was notified that 81 identity cards/access cards had been lost and five had been stolen.
	28 security passes were reported as lost in the Treasury Solicitor's Department within the last 12 months. All 28 passes were reported as lost rather than stolen. Five security passes were reported as lost in the Serious Fraud Office within the last 12 months. All five were reported as lost rather than stolen. Six security passes were reported as lost in HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate within the last 12 months. All six were reported as lost rather than stolen.
	No security passes were reported as either stolen or lost by my own department, the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, over that period.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Management Consultants

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to his Department of using management consultants has been in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: The Department for Work and Pensions was established in 2001. The latest financial year for which complete expenditure figures are available is 200203. Figures on the cost of management consultancy for the Department for Work and Pensions for 200102 and 200203 and for the former Department of Social Security for 199899, 19992000 and 200001 are in the table. Information for the former Employment Service is not available.
	
		Management consultancy costs
		
			 Department and financial year Cost ( million) 
		
		
			 DWP 200203 47.57 
			 DWP 200102 23.79 
			 DSS 200001 21.90 
			 DSS 19992000 19.00 
			 DSS 199899 12.98

Maternity Allowance

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many maternity allowance claims were (a) processed and (b) awarded in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what reasons are given for refusing maternity allowance claims;
	(3)  how many women were eligible for maternity allowance in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the table.
	In order to receive maternity allowance (MA), a woman must have been employed and/or self-employed in at least 26 weeks in the 66 week period ending with the week before her expected week of childbirth (the test period), and earn on average at least 30 a week averaged over any 13 weeks in that test period.
	In most cases where a claim to MA does not result in an award, it is because the qualifying conditions have not been met. In a very small number of cases, a claim will not result in an award because it was outside the time limits; the earliest a woman may claim MA is 14 weeks before here expected week of childbirth, and a claim must be made within three months of the date her MA is due to start.
	Information on the number of claims that were processed and the number of women who were eligible for MA is not available.
	
		Maternity allowance claims awarded and disallowed in the periods shown
		
			 Period Awarded Disallowed 
		
		
			 1 March 199731 August 1997 19,100  
			 1 September 199731 August 1998 40,100  
			 1 September 199831 August 1999 39,400  
			 1 September 199931 August 2000 38,900 700 
			 1 September 200031 August 2001 50,600 3,400 
			 1 September 200131 August 2002 50,800 2,700 
			 1 September 200231 August 2003 51,800 2,700 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. These figures have been updated to include late notification commencements.
	3. Figures for the latest year are subject to changes due to late notifications.
	4. Data for disallowed claims prior to August 2000 is not available.
	Source:
	DWP Information Centre, 5 per cent. samples.

CABINET OFFICE

Disabled People

Paul Goodman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what remit the Strategy Unit has in relation to its work relating to people with disabilities; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The Strategy Unit has been asked to provide supporting analysis and a strategic assessment of disabled people's life chancesthe opportunities available to disabled people, both children and adults, to improve their quality of life.
	The Unit's role will be to:
	improve understanding of disabled people's life chances, and of their underlying drivers; assess the implications of this analysis for disabled people, their families and for wider society; and inform the ongoing development of policy.
	The Unit will work with disabled people and their representatives, with other interested organisations and with other Government Departments, and will report to the Minister for Disabled People.
	The Unit's analysis will be fed into the Spending Review 2004.

Sunset Clauses

David Stewart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make a statement on his policy on the use of sunset clauses in legislation; and which Acts containing such clauses relevant to his Department were passed in each year since 1997.

Douglas Alexander: No legislation introduced by my department during the period in question has contained sunset clauses. The Cabinet Office promotes the better regulation agenda and the use of sunsetting where appropriate. The Regulatory Impact Assessment(RIA) guidance 'Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment' advises policy officials to consider time limiting or sunsetting at an early stage of policy development and gives specific circumstances where sunsetting may be appropriate. In November 2003 we published web-based RIA guidance which contains additional examples of sunsetting.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Audio-described Services

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to increase the availability of audio-described services on digital cable television.

Estelle Morris: Digital cable television has a requirement to carry the audio description service, in the same way that we expect digital satellite and digital terrestrial television to carry this service.
	There are technical problems surrounding provision of audio description on cable. It is for the cable operators to resolve these issues. However, DCMS officials have been working with manufacturers, broadcasters, software/applications providers and consumer groups as part of the Digital Television Action Plan to ensure that audio description can be received on all platforms.

BBC Charter Review

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to meet representatives from the BBC in Northern Ireland in relation to the BBC Charter Review.

Tessa Jowell: I and my ministerial colleagues intend to undertake a number of visits around the UK, including to Northern Ireland as part of the consultation on the review of the BBC's Charter. Those visits are likely to include seminars with representatives of the industry, including the BBC.
	In addition, Charter review more generally will cover all aspects of the BBC's role, structure and function, including its regional organisation. I hope and expect that the BBC will engage fully with the review.

Digital Television (Access)

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on progress in developing access to digital television for users with (a) sensory disabilities and (b) other special needs.

Estelle Morris: The Communications Act 2003 introduced a number of provisions aimed at increasing access to digital television services. These include extending the targets for subtitling, audio description and signing of services to digital cable and satellite broadcasters for the first time. Ofcom also has a duty to encourage the availability of easily usable domestic electronic communications apparatus.
	The Digital Television Action Plan includes actions to ensure that digital television equipment and services are accessible to the broadest range of people.
	The Action Plan's Technical Equipment Group (comprising manufacturers, broadcasters, software/applications providers and consumer groups) has been tasked to investigate the reception equipment requirements for users with sensory disabilities and to recommend actions to help promote usability and inclusive design for all.
	Two recent reports have indicated that some advances have been made in access to services for sensory impaired people, but action is needed to promote their further development and that current designs make digital television equipment more difficult to use than analogue.
	Clearly there are still challenges ahead and we are looking closely at the findings and recommendations of the reports. We will continue to work within the Action Plan, with industry and consumer organisations to address these issues.
	The reports are available on: www.digitaltelevision. gov.uk

Management Consultants

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost to her Department of using management consultants has been in each of the last five years.

Richard Caborn: The cost to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of using Management Consultants in each of the last five years can be found in the following table.
	
		
			  Cost () 
		
		
			 199899 27,289.12 
			 19992000 71,106.30 
			 200001 100,089.26 
			 200102 90,407.30 
			 200203 107,299.50

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Civil Servants

Vincent Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much space, expressed in square metres, the Department occupies for the offices of civil servants in (a) central London and (b) Greater London.

David Lammy: The Department for Constitutional Affairs occupies 64,716 square metres of office space in central London and none in Greater London.

Information Technology

Richard Allan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what cost savings have been made in the Department since the introduction of the Information Technology Procurement Centre of Excellence; and how these were calculated.

Christopher Leslie: The majority of systems used within my Department are supplied under outsource agreements with Liberata, EDS and Fujitsu Systems. It is the suppliers' responsibility to monitor the use of these systems and associated equipment. Dependent upon the particular system being used, there are a number of measures taken to ensure proper use. These include:
	access restrictions ensuring that only authorised personnel can use the systems;
	controlled change management procedures for adding and removing hardware and software;
	software auditing and restrictions to ensure unauthorised software/hardware either cannot be installed or that its use is identified; and
	software monitoring tools to ensure that access and use of the web is monitored and audited.

Publicity Campaigns

Brian Cotter: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much (a) his Department and (b) each agency and non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department has spent on (i) advertising and (ii) information campaigns in each year since its creation to 200304 (estimated); and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The information is listed in the table.
	Only DCA Policy Group and two NDPBs have incurred expenditure on advertising and information campaigns.
	
		
		
			 Financial Year April to March 2004 Expenditure on advertising Expenditure on information campaigns 
		
		
			 DCAHQ Policy Group (including Public Guardianship Office and the Court Service) 207,000 46,000 
			 DCA Non-departmental public bodies 
			 Legal Services Commission 64,294 2,879 
			 Office of the Information Commissioner Nil 197,428 
			 Total (12)271,294 (13)246,307 
		
	
	(12) It is estimated that a further 200,000 will be spent by DCA policy Group on advertising covering a recruiting campaign for the lay magistracy up to the end of March 2004.
	(13) The bulk of this figure covers on-going publicity for the Freedom of Information campaign and the provision of telephone advice lines and maintenance of the Just Ask website by the Legal Services Commission.

WALES

Civil Contingencies Bill

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary on funding to implement in Wales the provisions of the Civil Contingencies Bill.

Peter Hain: I have regular meetings with the First Minister to discuss funding for a range of issues including this one.

Civil Servants

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many civil servants, broken down by grade, there are in the Department and the agencies for which the Office is responsible; and what the figures were in January 1997.

Don Touhig: This Department was established on 1 July 1999 and has no agencies. The table shows the number of staff-in-post as at 1 October 2003.
	
		Staff-in-post as at 1 October 2003
		
			 Responsibility level Number 
		
		
			 SCS 1 
			 Grade 6 5 
			 Grade 7 2 
			 Senior Executive Officer 1 
			 Higher Executive Officer 15 
			 Executive Officer 14 
			 Administrative Officer 10 
			 Administrative Assistant 1 
			 Total non-industrial staff 49

Ministerial Meetings

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many meetings he has had in his capacity as Secretary of State for Wales in the past 15 months.

Peter Hain: In common with past Secretaries of State, I continue to hold a wide range of meetings with interested parties. These include meetings with Cabinet colleagues, the First Minister, Assembly Ministers, MPs (including the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy), business/commercial interests, voluntary sector and TUC.

National Assembly for Wales

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  how many visits he has made to the National Assembly for Wales in each of the last 15 months;
	(2)  how many meetings he has had with the National Assembly for Wales in each of the last 15 months.

Peter Hain: I have formally addressed three National Assembly Plenary sessions arising from my responsibilities under the Government of Wales Act. In addition, I meet with the First Minister on a weekly basis, Assembly Government Ministers and the Presiding Officer as the need arises.

Official Engagements

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many official engagements he undertook in Wales over the last six months; and how many of those were in Mid and North Wales.

Peter Hain: As Secretary of State for Wales I regularly undertake official engagements throughout Wales, including addressing conferences, visiting business and industry and newspaper offices. I also attend major national events such as the Royal Welsh Show, and the National and International Eisteddfods. Since July 2003, I have made five visits to Mid and North Wales for such engagements.

Press Office

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many press releases the Wales Office Press Office issued each day in (a) November and (b) December 2003.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office does not issue press releases on a daily basis but as demand requires.
	Six press releases were issued in November 2003. In December 2003, 14 press releases were issued.
	These figures do not include operational notes, lobby notes circulated after our weekly media briefings, articles for the media or contributions to joint press releases with other organisations.
	The Press Office also arranges press conferences and briefings, media interview requests and inquiries and also maintains the Wales Office website.

Press Office

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total salary cost of the Wales Office Press Office was in 2003.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office employs three Press Officers, whose basic salary scales currently range from 23,764 to 31,003, 26,688 to 35,214 and 42,999 to 56,737.

Young Offenders Institution, Glyn Neath

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he received concerning the application for planning permission for a youth offender institution in Glyn Neath; and how many of those supported the application.

Peter Hain: I have received a number of representations on this issue, expressing a range of views.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Diplomatic Staff

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff work at the British High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Mike O'Brien: There are 94 UK based and 334 locally employed staff working at the British High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Diplomatic Staff

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the average number of staff working at a British High Commission was in 2003.

Mike O'Brien: The average numbers of staff working at a British High Commission (HM representation in Commonwealth countries) in 2003 was: UK based 19 and locally employed 67.

Guantanamo Bay

John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for how long each of the British citizens being held in Guantanamo Bay has been held; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: There are nine British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay. Three of the British nationals were transferred to Guantanamo Bay in January 2002, two in February 2002, two in May 2002, one in October 2002 and one in February 2003.
	The Government's discussions with the US about the future of all the British detainees at Guantanamo Bay are continuing. It is hoped that the situation will be resolved in the next few weeks.

Iraq

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress towards the establishment of the International Trust Fund to manage Iraq's oil revenues.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 27 January 2004
	Iraq's oil revenues are being paid into a Development Fund for Iraq which is overseen by an International Advisory and Monitoring Board, as mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 1483.

Middle East

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Israeli Government concerning (a) illegal settlements in Gaza and the West Bank and (b) continued construction of the security wall.

Bill Rammell: The Government regularly raise these issues with the Government of Israel. We have made clear that settlements are illegal under international law and an obstacle to a comprehensive peace in the region, and that we regard the building of the wall on occupied Palestinian land as unlawful.

Middle East

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action the UK Government is taking in relation to the building of the partition wall by Israel in Palestinian territory; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The Government continues to urge the Government of Israel to re-route the fence away from Palestinian areas. My right hon. Friends the Prime Minster and the Foreign Secretary have made clear our concerns to the Israeli Prime Minister and Foreign Minister on a number of occasions. My noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean has raised the matter with the Israeli Foreign Minister, the Israeli Ambassador and the Israeli Minister for National Infrastructure. My noble Friend saw the impact of the fence for herself on 22 January.
	The Government recognises Israel's legitimate security concerns, and deplores the suicide bombings of Israeli civilians. But we consider Israel's building of a wall, or fence, on occupied land to be unlawful, and have urged the Israeli government to reconsider its route.

Statutory Sick Pay

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people employed in his Department have claimed statutory sick pay for (a) less than one week, (b) one to three weeks, (c) four to six weeks, (d) seven to 12 weeks, (e) 13 to 20 weeks and (f) 21 to 28 weeks in each year since 1997.

Mike O'Brien: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds detailed electronic records on SSP claims from 1999. To provide the information for 1997 and 1998 would incur disproportionate costs.
	Information from 1999 is as follows:
	
		
			  1999(14) 2000 2001 2002 2003(15) 
		
		
			 Less than 1 week 125 244 229 169 105 
			 1 to 3 weeks 30 91 75 62 41 
			 4 to 6 weeks 6 22 23 15 12 
			 7 to 12 weeks 9 16 24 22 9 
			 13 to 20 weeks 6 15 11 15 9 
			 21 to 28 weeks 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	(14) Data for 1999 is incomplete due to the commencement of the data system in-year.
	(15) Data available to 1 September only.
	We are committed to managing sickness absence effectively and expect to meet our Service Devlivery Agreement target for reducing sickness absence to an average of 5.7 days.

Terrorism (Political Parties)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which nations his Department deems that political parties which remain linked to terrorist groups are participating in Government.

Denis MacShane: Terrorism is incompatible with the legitimate political life of any nation. It is not clear how many political parties globally have operational or organisational links to terrorist groups. In cases where we do believe there are links, for example Hizbollah in Lebanon, we have pressed strongly for the abandonment of all terrorist activity and the exclusive pursuit of legitimate political engagement.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Ghana

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the help given to rural Ghana.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The UK, in common with the majority of donors to Ghana, is supporting the implementation of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy, which prioritises support for rural Ghana, where 56 per cent. of Ghanaians live. Together with others, we are backing programmes to improve land administration, forest management, agriculture, communications, and access to markets and financial services, and to improve standards in health care and primary education.

Zimbabwe

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Government of Zimbabwe's poorly implemented land reform programme and misguided economic policies continue to fuel the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, which is exacerbated by the effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and low and erratic rainfall. At least six million Zimbabweans will require food assistance in the months leading up to the harvest in April 2004. DFID has contributed 62 million for humanitarian assistance for Zimbabwe since the crisis began in 2001 and provides further funds to help tackle HIV/AIDS.

Uganda

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the impact of conflict in Uganda on the Department's work there.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID's programme in Uganda, as elsewhere, focuses on poverty reduction. As a result of the conflict, levels of poverty in the north remain high, and have not been falling as elsewhere in the country. 63 per cent. of households in the north live below the poverty line compared with 38 per cent. nationally. The conflict severely hinders long-term development activities. The UK programme in the north has focused on humanitarian support and interventions to help resolve the conflict. We have provided 7.3 million of humanitarian assistance over the last 12 months. We will be discussing the conflict with President Museveni during his UK visit this week.

Bilateral Aid

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what criteria are used by his Department to avoid fraudulent use of bilateral aid; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID's Programme and Project Management procedures are designed to minimise the risks of bilateral aid being diverted for fraudulent purposes. The procedures include strict controls over project appraisal, approval, procurement, payments, monitoring and evaluation. In addition, all DFID's activities are open to scrutiny by my Department's Internal Auditors and by the UK National Audit Office (NAO).
	DFID is also committed to supporting the improvement of governance, transparency and accountability in developing countries. My Department itself operates, and encourages in others, a zero tolerance stance towards fraud and corruption.
	Along with other aspects of development, DFID harmonises its anti-fraud and anti-corruption policies with other donors. The NAO commented in a recent report that DFID's work is well-regarded by its partners who acknowledge the leading and proactive role that DFID plays in tackling corruption issues.

EU Overseas Aid

Nick Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the UK's priorities for EU overseas aid.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The UK Government's main objective for EC development co-operation is to improve its poverty focus and the effectiveness of its programmes. Our Public Service Agreement sets a target for increasing the proportion of EC overseas development assistance going to low-income countries to 70 per cent. by 2006.
	Over the next year it will be important to engage the new European Parliament, Commission, and member states on developments issues and to continue to ensure development issues are adequately reflected in the debates on future financing and post Inter-governmental Conference discussions.

Botswana

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on his Department's work on HIV/AIDs in Botswana.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID is contributing 7.65 million over five years to a programme implemented by the Southern African Development Community to help address HIV/AIDS in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland. The programme supports the social marketing of condoms, strengthening of National AIDS Commissions in each of the countries and work to prevent HIV/AIDS transmission at cross border sites.

Vietnam

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on development assistance to Vietnam.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development will spend approximately 24 million bilaterally to support poverty reduction in Vietnam in 200304, and up to 60 million by 200506. The new Vietnam Country Assistance Plan (CAP), to be published shortly, will set out in detail the Department's plans in Vietnam for the next 34 years. The key priority will be to support the broad strategy laid out in the Government of Vietnam's own poverty reduction plan, the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS
	DFID's Country Assistance Programme for Vietnam will be published shortly and a copy will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Iraq

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the current humanitarian situation in Iraq.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: In spite of difficulties resulting from the security situation in Iraq, there is no humanitarian crisis in the country. Significant progress has been made since the end of the conflict in restoring essential services, restoring the Public Distribution System for food rations, reopening hospitals and schools, and beginning the process of longer-term reconstruction.
	US$33 billion in grants and soft loans was pledged for the reconstruction of Iraq at the Madrid Donors' Conference in October. DFID has already committed 220 million to humanitarian and reconstruction work in Iraq.

Iraq

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the result was of the consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers on possible next steps in maintaining public order in Iraq.

Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
	Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office consult regularly with Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) representatives on a range of issues related to the UK support for police training and reform in Iraq.
	ACPO's international affairs office has made a critical contribution to these efforts. This has included facilitating the secondment of 80 serving British officers currently involved in advisory and training roles in Baghdad, Basra and at the Jordan International Police Training Centre; and advice on the overall shape and objectives of the UK police contribution in Iraq.

Iraq

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent estimate had been made of the state of essential civilian infrastructure prior to the commencement of the military conflict in Iraq; and what plans his Department prepared for maintenance and repairs of the infrastructure.

Hilary Benn: United Nations and NGO organisations active in Iraq made assessments of civilian infrastructure prior to the conflict. These included United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF, International Committee Red Cross and CARE International UK. The Joint Needs Assessment prepared by the UN and World Bank before the Madrid Donors' Conference in October 2003 also assessed the condition of infrastructure pre and post conflict.
	The Department's assistance prior to the conflict and in the immediate aftermath was largely channelled through United Nations agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement and NGOs. These organisations had experience of working in Iraq, well-established local networks and a capacity to deliver assistance on the ground. They were able to move back into Iraq quickly after the major conflict ended and set up effective humanitarian operations. The Department helped these organisations to prepare for the post conflict phase.
	As it became clear that the continuing insecurity meant that the UN was unable to operate in Iraq, we provided support to essential infrastructure in Southern Iraq. This was also informed by the needs assessment work in the lead-up to the Madrid Conference in October, following which we committed 20 million as a contribution to a US$127 million CPA Essential Services Programme for the restoration of essential infrastructure in Southern Iraq.

World Trade Negotiations

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the progress of world trade negotiations, as they affect less developed countries.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: There have been intensive informal discussions since the Cancun ministerial meeting between Perez del Castillo, chair of the WTO Governing Council, and the various WTO delegations in Geneva, to try to resolve the outstanding issues left over from the Ministerial. However, del Castillo reported to the senior officials meeting on 15 December that these discussions had not achieved their objective.
	Despite this, I am encouraged by the statements made by all WTO members that they remain committed to a resumption of talks and to the ambitions of the Doha Development Agenda. The expected increase in global welfare from a reduction of trade barriers will be shared by both developing and developed countries. It is in all our interest that we make progress with the trade negotiations and bring them to a successful conclusion.

Afghanistan

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what steps are being taken to ensure recent flooding in the Herat region of Afghanistan does not hamper future crop production;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the impact which recent flooding has had on (a) basic transport and (b) educational infrastructure in the Herat region of Afghanistan;
	(3)  if he will make a statement on the humanitarian situation in the Herat region of Afghanistan, following recent flooding.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: A three-day persistent rain, which started on 16 January 2004, resulted in heavy flooding in Guzara district of Herat Province.
	Although there were no human casualties, 500 families were affected, 250 houses were partially destroyed and over 850 hectares of cultivated land was left under water. However, there are as yet no confirmed reports of educational or basic transport infrastructure destruction.
	A combined disaster management team including representatives from Government Ministries, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has dispatched an assessment mission to the affected villages. Humanitarian assistance has now been supplied to the affected families by international aid agencies, which includes tents, blankets, jerry cans, kitchen utensils, and one-month food ration. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has pledged to provide seeds and will work on re-enforcement of the Guzara district canal, while the US led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) has earmarked US $50,000 for rehabilitation efforts.

Afghanistan

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what impact the closure of the Salang tunnel has had on humanitarian efforts in the northern regions of Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Heavy snowfalls on 15 and 16 January with high winds and avalanches forced a temporary closure of the Salang tunnel, the key route from Kabul to the country's northern provinces. However, this closure was fortunately short, and the Salang road and tunnel reopened to traffic on 18 January. Although all UN road missions were temporarily suspended during the closure period, there are no reports of any significant impact on humanitarian operations, as a result of this closure.

Bangladesh

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures are in place to provide people living in the slums of Bangladesh with (a) clean water and (b) electricity.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: As elsewhere, slum dwellers in Bangladesh have few legal entitlements to essential services. As a consequence, they experience poor service provision, including water and electricity.
	There are two distinct types of slum in Bangladesh, public and private:
	(i) In public slums, some NGOs have taken the initiative to act as intermediaries between municipal water service providers and slum dwellers occupying public land. These NGOs become the customer of the water service provider and supply the slum dwellers through tap points. Those who use the tap points pay for the water they use. DFID is supporting such activities through a 17 million grant to WaterAid. Electricity is not usually affordable for slum dwellers, although it is not unusual for houses to be served by illegal connections; and
	(ii) In private slums, the landlord makes arrangements for the provision of services such as water and electricity and charges slum dwellers for use of the service.

Central America

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures are in place to aid the employees of garment factories in Central America who are exploited by their employers.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: There are two sets of measures in place to try to assist employees of garment factories in Central America. First, in a range of Central America countries governments have in place, national Competitiveness Programmes. In Nicaragua for example, this Programme is supported through the World Wide Response on Apparel Production (WRAP), and funded by the World Bank. It aims to put in place codes of conduct that include labour standards. Second, US retailers, the main purchasers of garments from the Central American garment or maquilla industry, are under pressure from northern consumers to conform to these codes and many are including monitoring of such codes as part of contractual agreements with wholesale garment producers, as well as spot checks in factories. In such cases lack of compliance is subject to sanctions by the retail purchasers.
	During 2003 DFID Central America supported a national level workshop in Nicaragua to enable government, private sector and civil society to discuss national codes. This was the first time in Central America that institutions involved in the setting, operating and monitoring of codes had all met to debate this issue.

Ethiopia

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps are being taken by his Department to ensure that food aid in Ethiopia is purchased from local farmers.

Hilary Benn: During the crisis of 200203, DFID was largely unable to provide food aid from local purchase. This was because of the severity of the overall national food shortage. Ethiopia required 1.8 million metric tonnes of food assistance, and at the request of the Ethiopian Government, this was mostly imported.
	This year will provide better opportunities for local purchase of grains as production is up by 46 per cent. DFID is also considering providing cash instead of food to people in need. This will reduce the negative impact of imported food aid on local markets and farmers and will increase the purchasing power of those affected by food shortage.

Ethiopia

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the predicted harvest in Ethiopia and its impact on the numbers requiring food aid in that country.

Hilary Benn: The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) estimate national cereal and pulse production for the main harvest of 200304 in Ethiopia to be just over 13 million metric tonnes. This is a 46 per cent. increase on the 200203 harvest and an 11 per cent. increase on the last five year average.
	Despite the good crop, about 7.2 million people will need food aidalmost half that of last year. This equals an overall food requirement of 980,000 metric tonnes compared with 1.8 million metric tonnes in 200203.

Information Technology

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what cost savings have been made in his Department since the introduction of the Information Technology Procurement Centre of Excellence; and how these were calculated.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID are currently embedding the key COE functions in our programme for reviewing Business Processes and Corporate systems (which is called Catalyst). As cost benefits will not accrue until improvements start to take effect, it is too early to measure cost savings.
	Detailed information will be available in future once the Catalyst programme is fully in place and has had an opportunity to collect the necessary statistics.

Information Technology

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what audit mechanisms are in place to determine whether all Information Technology hardware and software products are being properly utilised in his Department.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: A series of audit mechanisms are in place within DFID to determine that all IT hardware and software products are being properly utilised. User guidance on Acceptable Use is in force and is published on the DFID Intranet (InSight).
	The arrangements to track hardware assets are as follows:
	1. Details of PC and printer hardware are maintained in the Desktop Inventory software package by Peregrine. Equipment is held both by type and by allocated serial number, and details are entered at the time of issue (or re-4 issue) of to whom equipment is issued and where it is located. Periodic stocktakes are undertaken to confirm and to update the information held in the inventory database, and anomalies are investigated.
	2. Details of remote working laptop computers are held in a separate Microsoft Access database. This has been found to be more convenient from a support point of view since laptops tend to require rather more maintenance in service, and more configuration information can be held in this form of corporate record. Again, the equipment is recorded by a uniquely- allocated serial number, and is allocated to a named individual.
	3. A separate issue and return record is maintained for pool laptops, under which authorised individuals may draw a laptop, and sign for it when taking it out. Issues are time dependant, with users being responsible for the safe return of the equipmentlate returns are followed up.
	The arrangements to record software products in use are as follows:
	1. DFID employs a standard desktop system, which is distributed to all users. The latest version of this is locked downthis means that only the system supervisor can load application software onto the machine, and executable program files cannot be downloaded from the Internet.
	2. The Information Systems Department will load other authorised software for specific individuals or departments who require it, but not until it has been fully tested to confirm that it does not interfere with any other software loaded on the machine or the network.
	3. The Desktop Inventory product is used centrally to report on what software is loaded on DFID computers, and to check for the presence of files that contravene the central Acceptable Use Policy. Where suspicious files (eg .MP3, .jpg and .bmp files) are identified, these are either deleted or the reason for their presence is investigated by the Technical Security Manager.
	Software licences are held and managed centrally, as a manual exercise at the moment. A Software Asset Management (SAM) system is currently under investigation to automate this process.
	Operationally, user activity on the system, including file accesses, is logged, and the log files are subject to spot checks. User Internet activity is likewise logged and available for spot checksthis includes sites visited from remote working systems.

Malnutrition (Africa)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his most recent estimate is of levels of malnutrition in (a) Ethiopia, (b) Malawi and (c) the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Hilary Benn: There are a number of ways to measure malnutrition. Height for age (stunting) is the most common way of measuring chronic poverty and malnutrition by showing the percentage of children that have not reached an expected height at a given age. According to UNICEF and correct up to 2001, the stunting rates for Ethiopia, Malawi and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are 52 per cent., 49 per cent., and 38 per cent. respectively.
	Wasting is an indicator that better measures short-term changes in malnutrition during an emergency by showing the percentage of children that are underweight in relation to their height. It is more difficult to determine for a country because it varies according to the degree of emergency and tends to be area focused rather than reflect a national trend. For example, in Ethiopia, 200203 figures for wasting rose as high as 32 per cent. in some areas. The same areasa few months latershowed rates of 8 per cent. following the emergency operation.

Management Consultants

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the cost to his Department of using management consultants has been in each of the last five years.

Hilary Benn: Expenditure on consultancy services for the development programme in each of the last five years is recorded in Statistics on International Development, Table 12. A copy of this publication is available in the Library of the House. We do not keep a central record of the cost of management consultants in particular and this information cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

Pakistan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of maternal mortality rates in refugee camps in Pakistan.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: A report by the Commonwealth Development Corporation covering the period from 1999 to 2000 found that 41 per cent. of deaths of Afghan refugee women of reproductive age in Pakistan were due to maternal causes. This exceeded the proportion of deaths related to any other cause for this group.
	In response to the high levels of maternal mortality, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees runs basic health units in its camps for Afghan refugees. The health units include female health workers and doctors, who provide health care to pregnant refugees and advise women on all health issues. The improved access to health care has helped to reduce maternal deaths among refugee women.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many new investments have been made by CDC in sub-Saharan Africa in the past 12 months.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: CDC Capital Partners has made six new investments totalling nearly 104 million in sub-Saharan Africa over the last 12 months. These include a 53 million investment in Songas, a Tanzanian power company and a 10 million investment in Flamingo Holdings, an integrated agribusiness in Kenya. CDC also made additional investments of 19.9 million into 26 of its existing holdings in the region during 2003.

Sudan

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the humanitarian impact which the closure of Intifada camps Number one and Number two by Sudanese authorities will have; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: We continue to be concerned about the protection and assistance afforded to all internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Darfur region of Sudan, where there are reports of further significant population movements due to the ongoing conflict. This includes those IDPs relocated from the Intifada camp in Nyala, South Darfur. We continue to urge the parties to engage in peaceful negotiations, and to allow humanitarian agencies full and unimpeded access to IDPs and to those affected by the conflict.

Swaziland

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has made to the government of Swaziland over the decision to build new palaces for King Mswati's wives.

Hilary Benn: We understand that the Government of Swaziland has not yet reached a decision on this matter. Our High Commissioner in Mbabane has discussed the issue with senior Ministers in Swaziland, and has expressed concern that non-essential government expenditure could undermine the government's ability to deal with pressing poverty issues, including food security and HIV/AIDS.

Swaziland

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what impact the decision by the Government of Swaziland to spend $14 million on new palaces for King Mswati's wives will have on (a) UK bilateral aid programmes and (b) multilateral aid to that country.

Hilary Benn: Swaziland faces serious challenges in the next few yearsincluding HIV/AIDS, constitutional reform and economic growth. At present DFID is only directly financing two programmes in Swazilandsupport to the Coalition of Non-Government Organisations, and a programme on rural water supply. Neither channel funds directly to the Government and both are due to end during 2004.
	The European Union, who expect to provide Euro43 million to Swaziland under the ninth replenishment of the European Development Fund is pursuing a process of political dialogue with the Government of Swaziland under the Cotonou Agreement.
	Swaziland is also expected to receive support from international humanitarian agencies to assist with food security issues in the country, and from organisations such as the Global Fund against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria to help address HIV/AIDS.

Trade-related Assistance

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the countries which have benefited from the Government's funding for trade-related capacity building and technical assistance since 1998; and how the money has been used.

Hilary Benn: 160 million has been committed to trade related capacity building from 1998more than treble the pledge in the 2000 White Paper Eliminating World Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor.
	Trade related capacity building assistance and technical assistance has been delivered through bilateral, regional and multilateral channels for the benefit of individual countries and groups of countries.
	Therefore all developing countries and territories and some of the countries and territories in transition listed in the Departmental Report 2003 have benefited from the Government's trade-related capacity building and technical assistance since 1998.
	Funding has been provided for the development of trade sectors such as services, tourism, fisheries, forestry, public/private sector networking, banking and finance, business support services and institutions, industry and agriculture.
	Assistance has also been provided for the formulation of trade policy through to benefit poor people with an emphasis on including trade issues in national poverty reduction and country assistance plans. Support has also been provided for training in trade negotiation techniques, agriculture, intellectual property rights, dispute settlement, regional trade agreements, assisting with accession to the WTO and trade facilitation.

Trade-related Assistance

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the countries that will benefit from the 50 million support announced by his predecessor in September 2003 for trade-related capacity building and technical assistance.

Hilary Benn: Nigeria will benefit from a programme designed to improve poor people's access to commodity and services markets.
	Ukraine will benefit from a programme designed to support progress towards accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and greater integration into the global economy.
	The Government are also supporting a regional trade facilitation programme with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretariats. The precise allocation of resources within and between these regional groups will be for the Secretariats to decide.
	In addition, direct support to central government budgets will be provided to a number of developing countries, especially in Africa.

Uzbekistan

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the levels of household fuel poverty in Uzbekistan.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has not made an assessment of the levels of household fuel poverty in Uzbekistan. The World Bank is currently undertaking a survey of the Energy Policy Sector that will link poverty and access to fuel by households in Uzbekistan. The results of the study will be available later this year and can be accessed through the World Bank website (www.worldbank.org).

World Social Forum

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department (a) was represented at and (b) sent observers to the World Social Forum held in Mumbai this month.

Hilary Benn: Two Social Development Advisers from DFID's office in New Delhi attended the World Social Forum held in Mumbai, India from 16 to 21 January, as Delegates. Also, an official from DFID London attended the Forum as an Observer. Feedback suggests that their contribution to the broad range of issues discussed was highly valued.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Area Cost Adjustment

Peter Luff: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reason the data used to calculate area cost adjustment includes pay data for the public sector; and if he will make it his policy to use only private sector pay rates in future calculations.

Nick Raynsford: The area cost adjustment (ACA) is the element of the funding formula which takes account of the different costs of labour and non domestic rates between areas. The labour cost element of the ACA is calculated using hourly wage data for both the public and private sector from the New Earnings Survey (NES).
	To use exclusively private sector pay in calculating the ACA would take little account of how any public sector employers, such as the NHS, affect pay in their local labour market. Private sector wages also vary more across the country than public sector wages because many public sector employees are paid according to national pay scales. To base the ACA on private sector wages alone would overstate the variability in staff costs for local authorities across the country.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recently reviewed the grant distribution system and introduced new formula from 200304. It was announced in the 2001 White Paper Strong Local LeadershipQuality Public Services (CM5237) that the funding formulae will be frozen for at least 200405 and 200506. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not intend to change the way that the ACA is calculated during this period.

Area Cost Adjustment

Peter Luff: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reason the data used to calculate area cost adjustment excludes overtime pay data; and if he will make it his policy to include such data in future calculations.

Nick Raynsford: The area cost adjustment (ACA) is the element of the funding formula which takes account of the different costs of labour and non domestic rates between areas. The labour cost element of the ACA is calculated using hourly wage data excluding overtime from the New Earnings Survey (NES). The NES is a snapshot of the wages people earn in a given week in April each year.
	In calculating the ACA the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister need to be able to compare wage costs in different areas on a consistent basis. This is why the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister looks at hourly rather than weekly wages, and why the wage data used is only taken from those on adult pay rates, whose weekly wage has not been affected by absence and excludes overtime. The availability of overtime to individual workers is erratic. Because the NES is a snapshot, it is impossible to tell whether an individual is working overtime as a routine part of their job, or because a colleague is sick and the firm needs cover. And overtime payments often depend on the time and day overtime is worked. All of which diminishes our ability to compare labour costs between areas on a like for like basis.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced in the 2001 White Paper Strong Local LeadershipQuality Public Services (CM5237) that the funding formulae will be frozen for at least 200405 and 200506. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not intend to change the way that the ACA is calculated during this period.

Fire and Rescue Service

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  whom he has consulted on the plans to regionalise Essex's Fire Service;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the Essex Police Authority on his plans to regionalise the Fire Service;
	(3)  what discussions he has had with (a) retained and (b) full-time firefighters in Essex on his plans to regionalise the Fire Service; and what their advice was;
	(4)  what community consultation he has held in Essex on his plans to regionalise the Fire Service;
	(5)  what effect regionalisation of the Fire and Rescue Service in Essex will have on fire stations in (a) Colchester, (b) Manningtree, (c) Dovercourt, (d) Frinton, (e) Clacton, (f) Brightlingsea, (g) Weeley, (h) Wivenhoe, (i) West Mersea, (j) Tollesbury, (k) Tiptree, (l) Coggeshall and (m) Halstead.
	(6)  whether the Fire and Rescue Service in Essex will be regionalised whether or not the people of Essex will vote for an elected regional assembly.

Nick Raynsford: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Members for Buckingham, Taunton, North Thanet, North Wiltshire, Runnymede and Weybridge, South East Cambridgeshire, Brentwood and Ongar, Poole and Spelthorne on 22 January 2003, Official Report, columns 145658W.
	A 'soundings exercise', inviting views, information and evidence on the level of interest in each English region in holding a referendum on the creation of an elected regional assembly was held between December 2002 and May 2003. A summary of material received in this soundings exercise is available in the Library of the House. In the light of the views expressed, no referendum is currently planned for the East of England.

Fire and Rescue Service

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what community consultation he has held in Staffordshire on his plans to regionalise the Fire and Rescue Service;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the Staffordshire Police Authority on his plans to regionalise the Fire and Rescue Service.

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  whom he has consulted on the plans to regionalise Hereford and Worcester's Fire Service;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the West Mercia Police Authority on his plans to regionalise the Fire Service;
	(3)  what discussions he has had with (a) retained and (b) full-time firefighters in Hereford and Worcester on his plans to regionalise the Fire Service; and what their advice was;
	(4)  what community consultation he has held in Hereford and Worcester on his plans to regionalise the Fire Service;
	(5)  what research relating to Hereford and Worcester he has commissioned to provide the evidential basis for his plans to regionalise the Fire Service.

Nick Raynsford: I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to the hon. Members for Buckingham, Taunton, North Thanet, North Wiltshire, Runnymede and Weybridge, South East Cambridgeshire, Brentwood and Ongar, Poole and Spelthorne on 22 January 2004, Official Report, columns 145658W.

Leaseholders (Insurance)

Anthony Steen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to introduce a commencement order under the Commonhold and Leasehold Act 2002 to prevent landlords from insisting that their leasehold tenants use a particular insurance company to insure their property.

Keith Hill: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Guildford (Sue Doughty) on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 569W.

Leisure Facilities (Brent, East)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment the Audit Commission has made of leisure facilities in Brent East.

Nick Raynsford: The Audit Commission carried out an inspection of the London Borough of Brent's Sport and Leisure facilities in April 2002, in which the council was awarded a poor, no star score with poor prospects for improvement. The council has made investments in this area and an Audit Commission inspection team is planning to return to Brent later this year to check on the council's progress.

Local Government

Adrian Flook: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the rurality factor given to each of the (a) county councils and (b) unitary authorities in England for the latest local authority financial settlements.

Nick Raynsford: The formula spending shares (FSS) formulae listed in the following table have sub blocks which contain a sparsity factor.
	
		
			 Formula Sub block 
		
		
			 Environmental Protective and Cultural Services (EPCS) Lower Tier EPCS 
			 Education Primary Education 
			  Local Education Authorities 
			 Personal Social Services (PSS) Older Peoples 
		
	
	The sparsity top up for each county council and unitary authority for each of the above formulae is listed in the following table:
	
		
			  Education formulae PSS EPCS 
			  Primary education LEA Older people LT EPCS 
			  Sparsity top up () per 
			  Child aged 510 Resident pupil aged 318 Person 65+ Resident 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 0.00 0.00 0.27 0.53 
			 Barnet 0.00 0.00 0.21 0.39 
			 Barnsley 15.70 12.65 1.85 3.61 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 38.00 30.63 2.50 6.86 
			 Bedfordshire 73.15 58.96 3.59  
			 Bexley 0.00 0.00 0.23 0.57 
			 Birmingham 0.00 0.00 0.18 0.31 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 13.37 10.78 1.40 2.88 
			 Blackpool 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.18 
			 Bolton 0.00 0.00 0.62 1.29 
			 Bournemouth 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.09 
			 Bracknell Forest 8.75 7.05 1.16 2.98 
			 Bradford 10.75 8.66 0.77 1.78 
			 Brent 0.00 0.00 0.08 0.13 
			 Brighton and Hove 0.00 0.00 0.40 0.93 
			 Bristol 0.00 0.00 0.08 0.18 
			 Bromley 2.54 2.05 0.42 1.29 
			 Buckinghamshire 70.08 56.48 3.63  
			 Bury 0.00 0.00 0.69 1.53 
			 Calderdale 30.14 24.29 2.01 4.92 
			 Cambridgeshire 129.06 104.02 5.57  
			 Camden 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.14 
			 Cheshire 61.04 49.20 3.01  
			 City of London 6.89 5.55 1.16 2.22 
			 Cornwall 131.55 106.03 6.85  
			 Coventry 0.00 0.00 0.21 0.39 
			 Croydon 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.13 
			 Cumbria 158.10 127.42 7.06  
			 Darlington 38.75 31.23 1.65 4.14 
			 Derby 0.00 0.00 0.14 0.35 
			 Derbyshire 68.29 55.04 4.09  
			 Devon 165.22 133.17 6.46  
			 Doncaster 62.86 50.67 2.15 4.71 
			 Dorset 125.14 100.86 4.21  
			 Dudley 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.11 
			 Durham 63.30 51.02 3.91  
			 Ealing 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 138.85 111.92 5.74 16.30 
			 East Sussex 68.98 55.59 3.11  
			 Enfield 0.00 0.00 0.21 0.52 
			 Essex 54.60 44.01 2.82  
			 Gateshead 7.33 5.91 1.05 1.98 
			 Gloucestershire 89.78 72.36 4.08  
			 Greenwich 0.00 0.00 0.18 0.28 
			 Hackney 0.00 0.00 0.13 0.09 
			 Halton 5.08 4.09 1.09 1.99 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Hampshire 56.51 45.55 2.29  
			 Haringey 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.08 
			 Harrow 0.00 0.00 0.14 0.38 
			 Hartlepool 15.23 12.28 0.99 2.07 
			 Havering 0.00 0.00 0.40 1.16 
			 Herefordshire 224.49 180.94 8.97 25.24 
			 Hertfordshire 30.10 24.26 1.82  
			 Hillingdon 0.00 0.00 0.26 0.61 
			 Hounslow 0.00 0.00 0.16 0.31 
			 Isle of Wight Council 85.79 69.15 3.38 9.75 
			 Isles of Scilly 252.53 203.54 10.57 28.96 
			 Islington 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Kent 49.65 40.02 2.81  
			 Kingston upon Hull 0.00 0.00 0.26 0.45 
			 Kingston upon Thames 0.00 0.00 0.12 0.30 
			 Kirklees 28.79 23.20 1.33 3.10 
			 Knowsley 16.26 13.10 1.06 1.79 
			 Lambeth 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Lancashire 47.57 38.34 2.56  
			 Leeds 12.11 9.76 0.98 2.26 
			 Leicester 0.00 0.00 0.17 0.31 
			 Leicestershire 66.58 53.66 3.28  
			 Lewisham 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.03 
			 Lincolnshire 169.39 136.53 6.68  
			 Liverpool 0.00 0.00 0.21 0.36 
			 Luton 0.00 0.00 0.13 0.24 
			 Manchester 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.20 
			 Medway 17.10 13.78 0.75 1.96 
			 Merton 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.21 
			 Middlesbrough 0.00 0.00 0.23 0.45 
			 Milton Keynes 38.37 30.93 1.70 3.76 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 0.00 0.00 0.43 0.86 
			 Newham 0.00 0.00 0.11 0.14 
			 Norfolk 139.41 112.36 5.85  
			 North East Lincolnshire 29.02 23.39 1.15 2.82 
			 North Lincolnshire 101.56 81.86 5.61 14.66 
			 North Somerset 49.84 40.17 2.22 6.10 
			 North Tyneside 0.00 0.00 0.51 1.12 
			 North Yorkshire 215.57 173.75 7.10  
			 Northamptonshire 71.82 57.89 4.01  
			 Northumberland 129.48 104.36 6.02  
			 Nottingham 0.00 0.00 0.16 0.38 
			 Nottinghamshire 50.68 40.85 2.65  
			 Oldham 10.08 8.12 0.61 1.20 
			 Oxfordshire 91.54 73.78 4.44  
			 Peterborough 32.78 26.42 1.49 3.43 
			 Plymouth 0.00 0.00 0.14 0.29 
			 Poole 0.00 0.00 0.16 0.43 
			 Portsmouth 0.00 0.00 0.19 0.39 
			 Reading 0.00 0.00 0.12 0.37 
			 Redbridge 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.20 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 31.13 25.09 1.42 3.25 
			 Richmond upon Thames 0.00 0.00 0.25 0.64 
			 Rochdale 0.00 0.00 0.92 1.90 
			 Rotherham 20.32 16.38 1.85 3.67 
			 Rutland 210.25 169.46 8.52 28.11 
			 Salford 0.00 0.00 0.46 0.82 
			 Sandwell 0.00 0.00 0.18 0.27 
			 Sefton 0.00 0.00 0.63 1.34 
			 Sheffield 8.00 6.45 0.50 1.00 
			 Shropshire 193.67 156.10 8.62  
			 Slough 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.23 
			 Solihull 21.19 17.08 0.89 2.44 
			 Somerset 129.42 104.31 5.97  
			 South Gloucestershire 49.33 39.76 2.00 5.80 
			 South Tyneside 0.00 0.00 0.49 0.89 
			 Southampton 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.14 
			 Southend-on-Sea 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.23 
			 Southwark 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 St Helens 8.58 6.91 0.97 1.91 
			 Staffordshire 59.27 47.77 3.24  
			 Stockport 0.00 0.00 0.25 0.69 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 17.80 14.34 1.06 2.49 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 0.00 0.00 0.24 0.53 
			 Suffolk 109.96 88.63 5.29  
			 Sunderland 0.00 0.00 0.43 0.81 
			 Surrey 27.67 22.30 1.77  
			 Sutton 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.17 
			 Swindon 25.15 20.27 1.16 3.05 
			 Tameside 0.00 0.00 0.40 0.80 
			 Telford and the Wrekin 38.88 31.33 2.53 5.25 
			 Thurrock 14.93 12.03 1.74 4.04 
			 Torbay 0.00 0.00 0.46 1.12 
			 Tower Hamlets 0.00 0.00 0.12 0.13 
			 Trafford 0.00 0.00 0.27 0.58 
			 Wakefield 9.00 7.25 1.56 3.19 
			 Walsall 0.00 0.00 0.33 0.64 
			 Waltham Forest 0.00 0.00 0.09 0.14 
			 Wandsworth 0.00 0.00 0.09 0.12 
			 Warrington 3.13 2.52 1.36 3.09 
			 Warwickshire 80.60 64.96 3.99  
			 West Berkshire 87.56 70.57 4.14 12.26 
			 West Sussex 48.61 39.18 2.27  
			 Westminster 0.00 0.00 0.18 0.24 
			 Wigan 0.00 0.00 1.04 1.97 
			 Wiltshire 159.07 128.21 6.06  
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 40.69 32.79 1.53 4.48 
			 Wirral 0.00 0.00 0.43 0.89 
			 Wokingham 31.19 25.14 1.02 3.60 
			 Wolverhampton 0.00 0.00 0.08 0.19 
			 Worcestershire 53.30 42.96 3.52  
			 York 23.19 18.69 1.79 5.26 
		
	
	The figures are from the 200405 Local Government Finance Settlement, laid in Parliament on Thursday, 29 January and are consistent with the simple presentation guide to that settlement, available on the ODPM website.

Regional Assemblies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from organisations campaigning in (a) the North West, (b) the North East and (c) Yorkshire and Humberside in favour of an elected regional assembly for powers to be granted to those assemblies in addition to those set out in Your Region, Your Choice (Cm 5511).

Nick Raynsford: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has received representations from Campaign for a North East Assembly, Campaign for Yorkshire, Copeland Liberal Democrats, Labour North West, Sheffield Hallam Liberal Democrats, North East and Yorkshire and Humber Liberal Democrats who have all expressed views that elected regional assemblies be given additional powers to those set out in the White Paper Your Region, Your Choice.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Motor Vehicle Recovery

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the statutory fee for the recovery of a motor vehicle from a motorway was last reviewed; and what the policy of the Government are in relation to variations of the fee.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 27 January 2004
	The statutory fees for the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles from motorways or other roads were last increased in 1993. Any charges outside these fees are non-statutory and a matter for resolution between the parties concerned.
	The Government believe that the statutory charges should be set at a level which is fair to all parties, including the motorist and vehicle recovery operators.
	We are currently considering the level of the fees and how they should be applied in different circumstances.

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what level of proof is required by magistrates courts before an application for an anti-social behaviour order can be granted.

Hazel Blears: In the McCann case in October 2002 the Law Lords ruled that the equivalent of the criminal standard of proof, ie beyond reasonable doubt, should be applied in the interests of fairness and pragmatism to prove past acts of anti-social behaviour which are usually of a criminal or quasi-criminal nature. The necessity of a anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) for the protection of other persons from future anti-social acts remains an exercise of judgment not subject to a standard of proof.

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the success to date of anti-social behaviour orders in Gloucestershire.

Hazel Blears: Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) are one of a number of methods being used in Gloucestershire as part of their local strategy to tackle anti-social behaviour. Local practitioners report that ASBOs have been successfully used alongside other toolssuch as mediation and anti-social behaviour clauses in tenancy contractsto reduce anti-social behaviour in the area and transform the behaviour of several perpetrators. Nine ASBOs were granted in Gloucestershire between April 1999 and September 2003.
	As part of the Government's Together campaign to tackle anti-social behaviour, we will be doing more to improve the local response, this includes:
	75 million over three years to support the Government's action plan,
	Funding for every Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership,
	An ActionLine, Academy and website to help practitioners do more to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Anti-Social Behaviour Orders have been put in place, broken down by (a) police authority and (b) local authority; and how many people have been charged with breaking anti-social behaviour order provisions.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 27 January 2004
	Data on the number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) granted, from 1 April 1999 up to 30 September 2003 (latest available) by Magistrates' Courts Committees (MCC) area, Crown Court circuit, and the county court group and by local authority area have been placed in the Library.
	Information on the number of people charged is not collected centrally. From the Home Office Court Proceedings database, available information relating to breaches of ASBOs, covering the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2002, shows that the number of people who have been prosecuted for breaching an ASBO is 329, of which 305 were found guilty.

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders have been (a) made and (b) breached in each police authority area; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Data on the number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) made are reported to the Home Office on a quarterly basis by Magistrates' Courts Committees (MCC), and on a rolling basis by the Crown court (since 2 December 2002) and county courts (since 1 April 2003). Table A gives data on the number of ASBOs made, from 1 April 1999 up to 30 September 2003 (latest available), by MCC area, Crown court circuit, and county court group.
	The available information relating to breaches of ASBOs, covers the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2002. Table B gives data on the number of ASBOs made, and the number breached, within this period.
	
		Table ANumber of anti-social behaviour orders made, at all courts, as reported 
		
			 Magistrates' Courts Total ASBOson application/ conviction 
		
		
			 MCC/Police force area  
			 Avon  Somerset 45 
			 Bedfordshire 16 
			 Cambridgeshire 22 
			 Cheshire 33 
			 Cleveland 23 
			 Cumbria 28 
			 Derbyshire 21 
			 Devon  Cornwall 18 
			 Dorset 5 
			 Durham 28 
			 Essex 4 
			 Gloucestershire 9 
			 GLMCA/Metropolitan Police(16) 113 
			 Greater Manchester 240 
			 Hampshire 37 
			 Hertfordshire 26 
			 Humberside 19 
			 Kent 42 
			 Lancashire 56 
			 Leicestershire 7 
			 Lincolnshire 7 
			 Merseyside 66 
			 Norfolk 30 
			 Northamptonshire 9 
			 Northumbria 53 
			 North Yorkshire 13 
			 Nottinghamshire 26 
			 South Yorkshire 44 
			 Staffordshire 38 
			 Suffolk 27 
			 Surrey 10 
			 Sussex 39 
			 Thames Valley 21 
			 Warwickshire 25 
			 West Mercia 100 
			 West Midlands 154 
			 West Yorkshire 82 
			 Wiltshire 3 
			 England 1,539 
			   
			 Dyfed Powys 11 
			 Gwent 8 
			 North Wales 15 
			 South Wales 25 
			 Wales 59 
			 England and Wales MCC/PFA 1,598 
			   
			 County Court Group (ASBOs on application)  
			 London 1 
			 Merseyside 1 
			   
			 England and Wales County Court Group 2 
			 Crown Court Circuit  
			 Midland 4 
			 Northern 5 
			 North Eastern 3 
			 South Eastern 1 
			 South Eastern Provincial 2 
			 Western 7 
			 Wales and Chester 1 
			 England and Wales CC Circuits 23 
			 Total all courts England and Wales 1,623 
		
	
	(16) Including City of London
	
		Table BThe number of breaches(17) of an anti-social behaviour order from 1 April 1999 to 30 September 2003, by MCC/Police Force Area, Crown Court 
		
			  Total ASBOs Percentage  
			 MCC/Police Force Area Issued Breached total breached 
		
		
			 Avon  Somerset 25 (18)7 28 
			 Bedfordshire 8 6 75 
			 Cambridgeshire 5 2 40 
			 Cheshire 16 7 44 
			 Cleveland 13 7 54 
			 Cumbria 15 2 13 
			 Derbyshire 15 9 60 
			 Devon  Cornwall 11 4 36 
			 Dorset 4 1 25 
			 Durham 21 16 76 
			 Essex 2 1 50 
			 Gloucestershire 5 1 20 
			 GLMCA/ Metropolitan Police(19) 51 (18)17 33 
			 Greater Manchester 104 (18)30 29 
			 Hampshire 15 3 20 
			 Hertfordshire 16 (18)5 31 
			 Humberside 16 5 31 
			 Kent 36 3 8 
			 Lancashire 23 10 43 
			 Leicestershire 5 3 60 
			 Lincolnshire 3 (18)1 33 
			 Merseyside 32 6 19 
			 Norfolk 19 (18)8 42 
			 Northamptonshire 9 1 11 
			 Northumbria 30 (18)11 37 
			 North Yorkshire 7 (18)6 86 
			 Nottinghamshire 16 8 50 
			 South Yorkshire 24 (18)8 33 
			 Staffordshire 22 6 27 
			 Suffolk 9 1 11 
			 Surrey 6 (18)3 50 
			 Sussex 23 5 22 
			 Thames Valley 14 2 14 
			 Warwickshire 18 8 44 
			 West Mercia 75 (18)25 33 
			 West Midlands. 93 42 45 
			 West Yorkshire 29 13 45 
			 Wiltshire 1 1 100 
			 England 836 294 35 
			 
			 Dyfed Powys
			 Gwent 4 3 75 
			 North Wales 8 5 63 
			 South Wales 7 3 43 
			 Wales 19 11 58 
			 Total England and Wales 855 305 36 
		
	
	(17) Breaches are counted in this table on a persons basis; i.e. multiple breaches (occurring at the same time)
	(18) Includes breaches where the ASBO recipient was a juvenile
	(19) Including City of London

Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 in tackling terrorism in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

David Blunkett: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 147WS. The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 has improved our ability to fight crime and terrorism in a number of ways. I have provided several examples of the Acts effectiveness as follows:
	Under Disclosure of Information powers over 100 disclosures were provided to law enforcement agencies in relation to on-going terrorist investigations.
	Terrorist cash has been seized on 18 occasions since the Act's introduction.
	Several arrests and prosecutions have been made under the newly created offences of withholding information relating to a terrorist act and Hoaxing.
	24 individuals have been convicted under the newly created offence of religiously aggravated crime.
	A fuller and more detailed assessment of the improvements that Act has made will be made in the coming weeks when the Privy Council's report on Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 is debated in both Houses of Parliament.

Asylum and Immigration

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the basis was of his refusal to grant asylum to Shahir Patrolli, port reference number Man/02/176; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what evidential basis he stated in his refusal to grant asylum to Shahir Patrolli port reference number Man/02/176 that he was aware that no one from the Roma ethnic group lived at Suhodol; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: I wrote to the hon Member on 27 January 2004.

Business Crime

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to require police authorities to provide him with statistics each year on the level of business crime in each area; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office currently publishes annual total crime statistics recorded by the police in England and Wales for the following offences specifically relating to business crime: robbery of business property, theft by an employee, theft from shops and theft of an automatic machine or meter. Statistics for these offences have not been published at police force area level. The most recent volume of recorded crime statistics was published in July 2003, in Statistical Bulletin 7/03, Crime in England and Wales 2002/03, which is available via the Research Development Statistics (RDS) website. A copy of the Bulletin has been placed in the Library.
	The business crime team within the Home Office has recently begun a process of examining how current information on business crime, including retail crime, can be enhanced. To this end, the Research, Development and Statistics Department have been approached to examine the feasibility of different options. This work is on-going.
	However, in view of the complexity and range of crimes experienced by the business sector, it has rapidly become clear that no one single method of collecting data will provide a sufficiently complete picture. We are therefore considering how both police and survey data collection can be refined and extended to give us a more accurate and comprehensive overview of the crimes experienced by businesses.

Closed Circuit Television

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what grants are available for introducing CCTV into (a) villages and (b) rural railway stations.

Hazel Blears: There are currently funds available for the installation of CCTV in all locations, including villages and rural railway stations, under the Building Safer Communities Fund. The Home Office allocates the Building Safer Communities Fund to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships to enable them to tackle local crime priorities through a number of interventions, including CCTV facilities. For 200304, the Building Safer Communities Fund has provided Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships with 72.3million.

Community Sentence Breaches

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to amend the rules on evidence relating to magistrates courts cases involving breaches of anti-social behaviour orders to allow hearsay evidence to be heard.

Hazel Blears: Breach of an anti-social behaviour order is a criminal offence and rules relating to criminal evidence apply as they do for other criminal offences. The basic rule is that hearsay evidence is not admissible in criminal proceedings unless the maker of the statement is unavailable or where business documents are involved. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 will change the rules relating to hearsay evidence in criminal proceedings to make it admissible in specified circumstances such as where it is in the interests of justice.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 10 November from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. S. Khan.

David Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 27 January 2004.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 10 November 2002 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Gohal Ali Khan;
	(2)  when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 10 November 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Gohal Ali Khan.

David Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 27 January 2004.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 13 November 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. E. Ebasani.

David Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 23 January 2004.

Criminal Justice Boards

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from victim and witness services since the announcement of the transfer of funding to local criminal justice boards.

Paul Goggins: We are piloting the devolution of funding for the Witness Service to Local Criminal Justice Boards in four areas (Essex, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Surrey) from April 2004. The aim of the pilots is to improve local responsiveness to the needs of witnesses and accountability for services. We are working closely with the National Association of Victim Support Schemes and the local Victim Support schemes which run the Witness Service in the four areas on the detailed arrangements for the pilots.
	In November, my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary met the Chief Executive of the National Association of Victim Support Schemes and the Chair of National Association's Board of Trustees to discuss their concerns about the proposal, and a similar meeting took place in July with Baroness Scotland of Asthal.
	The Chief Executive of the National Association of Victim Support Schemes has also drawn these concerns to the attention of the Criminal Justice Council, which advises the National Criminal Justice Board.
	The Home Office has received 15 representations from Victim Support schemes that are not involved in the pilot projects.
	There is a range of views among local Victim Support Schemes and other practitioners about the proposal to devolve funding to Local Boards. The purpose of the pilot is to test whether devolution of funding results in more effective support and services for witnesses. The pilots will only be rolled out nationally if the evaluation demonstrates that the new arrangements are effective.

Criminal Records Bureau

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the number of employers who have decided not to employ someone as a result of a Criminal Records Bureau disclosure in the last five years; and what guidance is given to employers to ensure that such decisions are based on a fair assessment of the relevance of disclosed offences;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of employees turned down for jobs following a Criminal Records Bureau check in the last five years.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 18 December 2003
	There are no records available to indicate the number of employees that have been turned down for jobs following a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check. Recruitment decisions are entirely a matter for the employer and the CRB would not normally comment on a person's suitability for a position. However, an independent survey has shown that, since the CRB launched its Disclosure service in March 2002, an estimated 18 per cent. of employers that have used the service have decided not to employ an individual as a consequence of conviction information or another matter contained in a Disclosure.
	All recipients of Disclosure information issued by the CRB are subject to a Code of Practice, made under the Police Act 1997 and laid before Parliament. This makes it clear that no recipient of Disclosure information shall unfairly discriminate against the subject of the information on the basis of conviction or other details revealed. The ode requires job applicants to be advised that successful applicants will be required to request a Disclosure, but that a criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to obtaining employment. The CRB has also produced other guidance, and has collaborated with and endorsed guidance produced by other bodies designed to help employers to arrive at fair and balanced recruitment decisions.

Dog Kidnapping

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the incidence of the kidnapping of dogs has been in the last 12 months;
	(2)  what strategy is in place to counter the effects of professional dog-nappers.

Hazel Blears: Statistics on the kidnapping of dogs are not held centrally.
	There is no national strategy to counter the effects of professional dog-nappers. Where this is a pressing local crime issue it would be for the police, in consultation with the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership to take appropriate action.

Knives

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers regarding self-regulation schemes for retailers selling knives, with particular reference to the CV One Knife Code.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 27 January 2004
	The Government support action which tackles the problem of illicit knife carrying. The Government and the Association of Chief Police Officers believe that it is best for individual police forces and local authorities to decide how to establish and set up schemes like the CV One Knife Code in Coventry, taking into account local factors.

Market Research

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) opinion polling and (b) market research projects his Department has undertaken in the last financial year; and what the costs were of each project.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office research department undertakes a wide range of research activities that support the development of information-led policy, including scientific and social research, and includes research gathered from market research and focus groups.
	The Department conducts or commissions market and opinion research and focus groups only when it is justified by the specific needs of a particular policy or programme and when this is the most economical, efficient and effective way to achieve the purpose. Consulting and involving the public helps inform both policy formulation and the delivery of better quality public services.
	A table of commissioned projects involving opinion polling and market research is included at Appendix 1, and also placed in the Library. It has not been possible to provide detailed breakdown of costs of projects where this information is either not held centrally or is commercial in confidence.

Medicines (Disposal)

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on inspection procedures at sites licensed by the Drugs Inspectorate for disposal of medicines and pharmaceuticals.

Caroline Flint: Inspections may be conducted routinely, approximately once per year, or unannounced; such visits may take place on occasions when controlled drugs are being destroyed. In addition to checking the operating procedures the records containing details of consignments and their destruction will be examined.
	Some operators are licensed to store controlled drugs pending destruction while others are only authorised to destroy upon arrival on site.

Medicines (Disposal)

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the minimum security procedures at sites licensed by the Drugs Inspectorate for disposal of medicines and pharmaceuticals.

Caroline Flint: Security requirements are assessed on an individual basis but in all cases controlled drug consignments are required to be recorded and kept safely locked away. In conjunction with the issue of the licence, advice is given on a range of matters bearing on security. This includes appropriate staffing, good handling practice, vehicle management and electronic security as well as liaison with local police.

National Offenders Management Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department where the National Offender Management Service will be based.

Paul Goggins: The headquarters will initially be based in London, probably in accommodation currently occupied by the Prison and Probation Services, but once the eventual size and structure has been decided, further consideration will be given to the most appropriate long-term location. Regional offender managers and their staff will of course be located in their regions.

National Offenders Management Service

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who will act as the employer for (a) probation and (b) prison staff within the structure of the National Offenders Managment Services.

Paul Goggins: For most staff in prisons and probation the changes outlined in Reducing CrimeChanging Lives are unlikely to have an immediate impact. They will continue to be employed by the probation boards and prison service. In time the relationships will change but those changes have yet to be finalised and will be subject to the usual consultation arrangements with staff and unions.

Neighbourhood Warden Schemes (London)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which London boroughs run neighbourhood warden schemes; how many wardens each of these boroughs employed at the latest date for which figures are available; which London boroughs directly fund and employ police community support officers; how many police community support officers each borough funded or employed at the latest date for which figures are available; which London boroughs run community safety accreditation schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 26 January 2004
	The following table shows London boroughs that have warden schemes funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Neighbourhood Wardens Team and the number of wardens the council employs:
	
		
			 Borough Number of wardens 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 4 
			 Barnet 12 
			 Brent 9 
			 Camden 15 
			 City of Westminster 25 
			 Croydon 12 
			 Ealing 8 
			 Greenwich 10 
			 Hackney 25 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 6 
			 Haringey 14 
			 Harrow 6 
			 Havering 11 
			 Hounslow 7 
			 Islington 28 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 3 
			 Lambeth 12 
			 Lewisham 27 
			 Merton 12 
			 Newham 12 
			 Redbridge 5 
			 Southwark 27 
			 Sutton 4 
			 Tower Hamlets 29 
			 Waltham Forest 10 
			 Wandsworth 23 
		
	
	We are unable to supply figures for other types of warden schemes or warden numbers in London as these data are not collected.
	Community Support Officers (CSOs), as defined by the Police Reform Act 2002, are all employees of the local Police Authority. In London and elsewhere local authorities have contributed to the funding of CSOs but they cannot employ them.
	The Commissioner for the Metropolis informs me that the following boroughs operate additional CSOs funded through Special Services Agreements under section 25 of the Police Act 1996.
	
		
			 Borough Number of CSOs 
		
		
			 Camden 2 
			 Greenwich 5 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 2 
			 Hillingdon 7 
			 Islington 4 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 12 
			 Tower Hamlets 8 
		
	
	At present the Metropolitan Police Service does not yet run a Community Safety Accreditation Scheme in any of the London boroughs.

Pesticides

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of theft of (a) pesticides containing aldicarb and (b) other pesticides have been reported in each of the last five years; and what quantities of pesticide have been (i) reported stolen, (ii) reported missing and (iii) recovered.

Hazel Blears: The requested information is not available centrally.

Police

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Code of Practice on the police use of firearms and less lethal weapons.

Hazel Blears: I refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement I made on 3 December 2003, Official Report, column 61WS.

Police

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how he intends to sustain the planned increase in police numbers.

Hazel Blears: The number of police officers in England and Wales reached a record 136,386 on 31 August 2003. The major component in the rise in police numbers since March 2000 has been the use of the Crime Fighting Fund to fund additional recruits above that which forces were planning to train.
	As announced in the provisional funding settlement for 200405 on 19 November 2003, the Home Office will provide continuation funding for the 9,000 posts created by the Crime Fighting Fund from 200003. In addition it is proposed to provide part funding of 60 per cent for the 650 additional Crime Fighting Fund recruits in 200304.
	The Home Office is also promoting a number of initiatives to ensure the increasing effectiveness of the resources devoted to policing. Both workforce modernisation and reducing bureaucracy will release officers to do the job they were trained to do and help them undertake their duties in an increasingly effective way. We will this year be establishing a baseline measure for the amount of time officers spend on front line duties, which will enable forces and police authorities to plan for improvement. The National Intelligence Model developed by the police service will enable forces to deploy officers in a more strategic way.

Police

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have retired early owing to ill-health in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: The figures relating to the number of police ill-health retirements between 1997 and 2003 are given in the table.
	
		
			  Medical retirements 
		
		
			 199697 2,012 
			 199798 1,811 
			 199899 1,642 
			 19992000 1,232 
			 200001 1,209 
			 200102 1,114 
			 200203 821

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the review of prison industries conducted by the Prison Service has been completed; and if a copy of the review will be placed in the Library.

Paul Goggins: An internal review of the strategic oversight and management of public sector prison industries in England and Wales was completed earlier this year. The report of the prison industries review was written for internal discussion, and contains proposals for improving the way in which prison industries are operated and managed. These proposals are now being implemented. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people have been held in prisons in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many prisoners have been held in police cells in each year since 1997 because of overcrowding in the Prison Service;
	(3)  how many (a) convicted prisoners and (b) remand prisoners who should have been in a prison establishment have been held in police cells in each year since 1997.

Paul Goggins: Information on the annual average population in prison and in police cells by type of custody is given in table 1.3 of Prison Statistics England and Wales, 1997 to 2002. Copies of Prison Statistics England and Wales are available in the Library.

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to reduce prison overcrowding in the next two years.

Paul Goggins: On 6 January a radical reform of the management of offenders was announced with the publication of the document 'Reducing CrimeChanging Lives'. The overriding purpose of the reforms is to improve the management of offenders and reduce re-offending. Offenders for whom prison is the right penalty will continue to be sent to prison. But there are many offenders for whom tough non-custodial penalties will be more appropriate. Our proposals will provide sentencers with a full range of penalties and advice on what is most likely to be effective in reducing re-offending in particular circumstances.

Prostitution

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is on the licensing of brothels.

Caroline Flint: It is an offence to keep or manage a brothel.

Reoffending

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of those who have undertaken the Intensive Change and Control Programmes in each year since 1997 reoffended within (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years, (d) four years and (e) five years.

Paul Goggins: The Intensive Control and Change Programme (ICCP) was launched on 3 April 2003. There have been 269 commencements to date, but since orders are made for 12 month periods no yearly reoffending statistics are available.

Retail Crime

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether separate statistics are kept on retail crime.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 27 January 2004
	Currently, with the exception of a limited number of crime categories, such as 'theft from shops', which explicitly relate to retail crimepolice recorded crime figures provide only a very limited picture of crimes experienced by the retail sector.
	However, surveys such as the recent Commercial Victimisation Survey 2002 (a survey of over 6,500 retail and manufacturing premises) provide a fuller and more accurate picture of business crime, measuring both reported and unreported crime.
	This survey captures statistics on crime experienced by businesses in the previous year, the cost of crime, concerns about problems and crime in the local area, action taken by businesses to respond to criminal incidents and their crime prevention precautions.
	Provisional headline findings were released on 13 August 2003. The main findings should be published this spring.

Road Rage

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what data the Government collates on the average annual number of crimes committed as a result of road rage incidents.

Hazel Blears: The requested information is not available centrally.

Young Offenders

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from Independent Monitoring Boards concerning the treatment of children in young offender institutions.

Paul Goggins: The treatment of children is mentioned in every Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Boards of Young Offenders Institutions. There were five specific questions asked of the Secretary of State during the 200203 reporting year.